Hollow Sphere Pigments
Breaking conventions with hollow-sphere pigments
ROPAQUE™ hollow-sphere polymeric pigments were designed initially for use in architectural paints as a partial replacement for titanium dioxide, a trusted but often expensive light-scattering pigment. The technology expanded into the paper industry for use as a glossing agent, as well as in thermal paper coatings.
Breakthrough in thermal coatings
Instead of relying on chemical developers to create an image, ROPAQUE™ technology relies solely on air voids in the paper coating to develop an image. The resulting thermal paper can be used with all existing thermal printers, and unlike conventional thermal paper options, offers permanent and fade-resistant images. It is comprised only of materials that are approved for food contact applications.
The development of ROPAQUE™ NT-2900 Hollow Sphere Pigment for Blue4est® Thermal Paper received a 2017 U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Award. This innovation is a first of its kind, offering a sustainable thermal paper option free of chemical developers.
Benefits:
- Significantly increased light-scattering efficiency while maintaining paint performance
- Potential to lower TiO2 demand at equal dry hiding
- Wide formulation latitude from low to high
- Lower carbon footprint than TiO2
- Enhances TiO2 efficiency through spacing
- Low-VOC
- High scrub resistance and cleanability for paints
- Gloss, opacity and brightness development in paper and paperboard coatings
- Improved economics of waterborne coatings
Blue4est® is a trademark of Papierfabrik August Koehler Se, used with permission
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