ECKART presents innovations for the coating and printing industry and for functional applications.
"Moving Forward in Brilliance" is the theme ECKART chose for the pigment innovations it presents at this year's European Coatings Show (ECS), Nuremberg, March 19-21. Innovations include sustainable solutions for the coating and the printing industry. New solutions for functional applications allow groundbreaking efficiency increases with protective coatings. In Hall 4A-314A, the producer also shows innovative concepts to demonstrate how effect pigments can support self-driving cars or electromagnetic interference boxes.
Effect Pigments for Autonomous Vehicles
The concept of autonomous vehicles presents an immense challenge to the coating industry. The vehicles use radar or lidar based sensors to convey the movement of other vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians to the on-board computer. Conventional popular silver metallic coatings could reflect, reduce, or absorb the radar waves. At ECS 2019, ECKART presents first concepts for radar permeable silver coatings. On the one hand, the new pigment combinations guarantee highly brilliant silver metallic shades with comparable hiding power to existing silver metallic colors while transmitting radar waves on the other. The concept can be matched with formulations and binders as well as with the vehicle design.
Effect Pigments for Sustainable Silver Metallic Coatings
Solvent-free pigment preparations support sustainable coating concepts. The new STAPA® SFP HYDROLAN pastes use resin instead of solvents. The VOC-free pigments were specifically designed for aqueous systems and create a highly brilliant metallic optic. They offer extreme formulation freedom while providing high efficiency and environmental compatibility. The solvent-free derivative of the established STAPA® IL HYDROLAN series is characterized by its high shear and gassing stability. Colors range from practically structureless silver to glittering metallic effects.
Silver Pigments for Demanding Systems
The new aluminum pigments STAPA® IL HYDROLANplus were specially developed for aqueous coating systems with very aggressive formulations. The pastes are based on the advanced development of SiO2 encapsulation. As a result, they provide significantly better stability plus excellent gassing stability. Additional characteristics are their outstanding optical properties in combination with circulation stability.
Further Development in the Field of PVD Pigments
The highly brilliant HYDROSHINE dispersions were specifically designed for aqueous colors and coatings. They are based on ECKART's PVD aluminum technology. Their advancement led to optimized gassing and chemical stability as well as humidity resistance. Optical properties were improved, too.
New Colors: From Bold to Matte
The new pearlescent pigment EDELSTEIN Topaz Orange provides highest chroma plus unrivalled brilliance. It expands the color space opened up by EDELSTEIN Ruby Red. Thanks to ECKART's patented coating technology for synthetic pigments, the EDELSTEIN portfolio is characterized by high chemical and shear stability as well as strong coverage. The pigments' CFX versions are weather and humidity resistant and show ideal intercoat adhesion.
Unstructured matte effects are a big trend. The two new SYMIC pigments A505 and A522 create earthy bronze and copper shades with a velvety pearlescent shimmer. With sizes of 1-15 µm the particles are very fine. They are suited to decorative interior applications.
Trend Colors 2020
Collaborating with trend scouts and the international Color Marketing Group, the ECKART team Industrial Coatings creates five inspiring color trends with six shades each every year. The Coating Trends 2020 premiere at ECS 2019. The new colors demonstrate the diverse optical and esthetic opportunities which metallic and pearlescent effects offer, without compromising sustainability concerns.
Unique Metallic and Pearlescent Effects for Powder Coatings
STANDART® PCBF is the name of a new generation of non-leafing aluminum preparations, which are based on a patented coating-technology. PCBF stands for powder coating bonding free. The aluminum particles are embedded in silicon dioxide units and additionally encapsulated with a coating of thermosetting resin molecules. Thanks to this technology, metallic effects achieved with powder coatings are in no way inferior to metallic effects achieved with wet applications. The pigments provide excellent resistance to weather and to chemical stress.
STANDART® PCUplus800, a non-leafing aluminum pigment, was developed for applications that demand an extremely high chemical resistance. The very fine pigment shows excellent results in mortar and humidity tests.
The new SYMIC PCE pearlescent pigments in gold, silver, and copper shades guarantee high efficiency plus high chroma in exterior and architectural coatings. Thanks to their parallel alignment, the pigments provide a consistent coating finish with particularly brilliant effects. They have excellent electrostatic charging properties. Their low pigment loadings prevent spotting or dry-spraying problems during application.
Effect Pigments for Functional Applications
The zinc flake pigments of the new ProFLAKE Zn series allow the formulation of anticorrosion primers with a pigment volume concentrate of only 12.5 %. Corrosion protection systems based on ProFLAKE Zn fulfill the corrosion protection class DIN EN ISO 12944-6 corrosion category C5 very high. STAPA® ZnMg 26 is the brand-new ECKART alloy. It protects multi metal constructions such as combinations of steel and aluminum of the 3000 and 5000 series in one go.
Effect Pigments for Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)
Electromagnetic radiation nowadays is not only ubiquitous but also inevitable with respect to modern electronic communication (LTE, 5G, Wifi, Bluetooth, NFC, radio, etc.). Due to the large number of various signal sources that are constantly communicating (e.g. autonomous driving), it must be ensured that there are no mutual interferences that could impact the performance of electronically sensitive components, in the worst case leading to critical malfunctions. Consequently, in some sensitive industrial sectors such as medical technology, corresponding standards ensuring electromagnetic compatibility already exist. In general, a suitable protection of sensitive components against electromagnetic radiation can be obtained with a metallic cover, following the principle of the Faraday cage.
But how could light weight housings made of e.g. plastic be equipped with an appropriate protective function? An elegant way is to coat the inside of the housing with a paint formulation based on eConduct pigments from ECKART. This approach by adding an electrically conductive paint in a subsequent step also allows to shield various designs of enclosures.
The eConduct product range from ECKART contains either flake shaped or spherical silver-coated glass, aluminum or copper substrates. The conductive pigments are provided in powder form.
In addition, by using eConduct pigments in adhesives and sealants at the joints of housing parts, a conductive and thus shielding connection can be created, too.
Innovations for the Printing Industry
ECKART will present innovative answers to current trends and recent regulatory decisions within the printing industry.
Printing inks for LED curing offset processes are becoming more popular. The gold and silver inks of the new UNIPAK LED 483 series are widely applicable on carton, paper, metal as well as in in-mould applications. For applications with indirect food contact, ECKART developed the UV/LED curing one-component gold series METALSTAR UV/LED FPG 725. The abbreviation FPG stands for Food Packaging Grade.
As a further addition to its portfolio for conventional sheet-fed offset printing ECKART presents METALSTAR FPG 712. The one-component series is certified for indirect food contact. It is available in classic gold tones plus in particularly brilliant silver shade.
Given the current regulatory influences, ECKART secures long term product safety for users with its development of the HYDROXAL V series for aqueous inks used in flexo and gravure printing. Moreover, ECKART provides two more series, which conform to regulatory demands. ROTOSTAR UV 166 and METALSTAR UV 285 are suited for UV curing flexo and offset printing processes.