Characteristics of machine pigments

 

(1) Pigments and dyes

 

The substances that make the material appear color are collectively referred to as colorants, which are mainly divided into dyes and pigments. Dyes refer to colorants that are soluble in water or other solvents; pigments are colorants that are insoluble in water or other solvents, and are mainly colored by fine particles dispersed in the use medium. In addition to light resistance, weather resistance, acid and alkali resistance, solvent resistance, migration resistance and other characteristics similar to dyes, pigments also have other specific properties, such as color, tinting power, dispersion, hiding power, heat resistance, water permeability, warping resistance and so on. The following product categories are included for colorants:

 

Organic Pigments and Inorganic Pigments

 

Pigments are divided into two categories: inorganic pigments and organic pigments. Inorganic pigments are generally salts or oxides of some metals, which can be subdivided into oxides, chromates, sulfates, silicates, borates, etc. Inorganic pigments have excellent thermal stability and light stability, low price, so the amount is very large, but its disadvantages are that there are not many varieties, relatively poor tinting strength, high relative density, and generally not bright enough. Synthetic organic pigments first appeared in the early twentieth century, after 100 years of development, the variety of organic pigments has been very rich, in the "dye index" on the registration of the chemical structure of the pigment varieties up to more than 800 kinds, most of them are organic pigments. Because a chemical structure can be made into different dosage forms by adjusting the crystal form and pigment, the actual pigment varieties sold on the market are very rich, such as pigment blue 153, BASF produces nearly 30 dosage forms, and Japan Ink Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. produces more than 30 dosage forms. Organic pigments have high tinting strength, bright color, complete chromatography, and low relative density, but they are usually inferior to inorganic pigments in terms of heat resistance, weather resistance and hiding power. However, with the development of organic pigment technology, these shortcomings have been greatly improved, and their application fields have been further expanded. Inorganic pigments and organic pigments are insoluble colored substances, but due to different molecular structures, their application properties are significantly different.

 

Application fields of organic pigments

 

Due to the characteristics of a wide variety of organic pigments, bright colors and good tinting strength, they are widely used in ink printing, coatings, plastics and rubber industries, and become indispensable coloring materials for the production of a variety of industrial products. As an additive to downstream products, the application of pigments in subsequent products is a physical dispersion process. As the ink, paint, plastic rubber and other application environment has its own characteristics, so the nature of the pigment used in the requirements are not the same, such as compared with the printing ink, paint pigments for light resistance, weather resistance, heat resistance, chemical resistance, hiding power and so on have higher requirements, which requires pigment manufacturers to develop suitable for different applications of the formulation products. High-performance organic pigments, including benzimidazolone series, macromolecular series, azo pigments, isoindoline pigments and intermediates, are widely used in high-end fields such as high-grade inks, high-grade coatings, plastics and rubber, because of their superior light fastness, high-temperature resistance, migration resistance and other properties to make up for the shortcomings of classic organic pigments, the final products are widely used in automobiles, architectural decoration, food and medicine packaging, outdoor advertising, printing, electrical appliances and other industries. Benzimidazolone series pigments and macromolecular series pigments have good heat resistance, light resistance and migration resistance, which can well meet the needs of production, processing and application of ink, coating, plastic and other industries.

 

Industry status and development trend

 

1. Overview of global organic pigment industry

 

In 2014, the total output of the world organic pigment industry was about 298000 tons, the total consumption was about 307000 tons, and the sales volume was about 3 billion US dollars. Among them, azo accounts for 50% ~ 55% of the total market share, phthalocyanine accounts for about 20%, and high-performance organic pigment (HPP) accounts for about 25% ~ 30%. Azo and phthalocyanine pigments have lower industry profits due to sufficient price competition, while high-performance organic pigments maintain higher profits. From the global application of organic pigments in various industries, the ink industry accounts for the first place, accounting for about 55% to 60% of total consumption, coatings accounting for about 20%, plastics processing industry accounting for about 15%, other (textile, rubber, etc.) areas accounting for about 5% to 10%.

 

2. Overview of domestic organic pigment industry

 

From 2012 to 2016, my country's organic pigment industry fluctuated with the macroeconomic situation. The output of organic pigments was 21.0, 21.0, 21.1, 23.2, 22.8 and 234000 tons, accounting for more than 50% of the world's total.

 

From 2012 to 2016, China's organic pigment industry was affected by the domestic and foreign economic situation, changes in global trade demand, environmental protection, industrial upgrading and other factors. The total production capacity of the domestic organic pigment industry showed a certain fluctuation trend-from 2012 to 2013, the total production capacity of the organic pigment industry hovered at a low level and increased significantly in 2014, mainly related to the stabilization of the domestic and foreign economic environment and the gradual recovery of global trade. In 2015, the total production capacity showed a downward trend again, mainly related to the increasingly stringent environmental protection policies, industrial upgrading, economic transformation and other macro factors, the industry concentration has increased, high-quality, high value-added organic pigments have gradually become the mainstream of market supply and demand. In 2016, the output of organic pigments was 234000 tons, an increase of 2.60 over the same period last year, and the operation was stable. However, the industry is still facing the pressure of the economic environment of "changing the mode and adjusting the structure", as well as the pressure of energy conservation, emission reduction and stricter environmental protection. China's organic pigment products to meet domestic demand at the same time, but also exported abroad.

 

Development trend and characteristics of organic pigment industry

 

(1) The world's organic pigment industry has shifted to Asia, and China has become the world's largest producer and exporter of organic pigments.

 

Due to the increasing environmental protection requirements and rising labor costs in developed countries, as well as increasing competitive pressure from emerging Asian economies, dyeing and pigment companies in developed countries continue to compress their local production scale.

 

(2) Restriction and prohibition of products containing toxic and harmful substances

 

With the increasing awareness of environmental protection, people's safety and environmental protection requirements for dyeing and pigment products are also increasing. The United States, Europe, Japan and other countries have established institutions to study the ecological safety and toxicology of dyes and pigments, specifically to understand and study the impact of dyes and pigments on human health and the environment, and to develop indicators of heavy metal content in dyes and pigments.

 

(3) Safety and environmental awareness to promote the rapid development of high-performance organic pigments

 

As more and more chemical components, especially harmful heavy metal components, are prohibited or restricted in dyeing and pigment products in developed countries, some classic pigments can not be used in high-end or harsh fields because they are easy to decompose and produce possible carcinogens under high temperature and other conditions, high-performance organic pigments are more and more favored by people for their good weather fastness, heat resistance, solvent resistance and migration resistance, and have become the object of research and production by major enterprises and research institutions.

 

(4) High-performance, environmentally friendly organic pigments are the future development trend

 

Classical organic pigments have bright colors, but their light resistance, heat resistance and other properties cannot reach the level required by the ever-expanding application fields. High-performance organic pigments show more excellent physical and chemical properties when they are used. They not only have the advantages of bright colors and high color strength of classic organic pigments, but also can meet the requirements of light resistance, heat resistance, solvent resistance and other higher performance in the fields of high-grade coatings, inks, plastics, etc., thus becoming the development trend of organic pigments.

 

(5) Developed countries have become the main market for organic pigments.

 

Developed countries such as the United States and Europe are the main consumers of organic pigments in the world. As the world's largest economy, the United States has the largest consumption of organic pigments in the world for many years, and it is also the largest export target of organic pigments in China. In addition to the United States, China's main exports of organic pigments also include the Netherlands, Germany, Japan and other economically developed countries and regions. The main reasons are: on the one hand, the per capita income level of developed countries or regions is higher. Organic pigments, especially high-performance organic pigments, have a wider customer base in areas with strong economic strength due to their complex production process and high production costs, and their prices are significantly higher than those of ordinary inorganic pigments. On the other hand, developed countries or regions have higher awareness of environmental protection and safety, and relevant laws and regulations are more stringent. Some pigments containing toxic and harmful substances have been banned or restricted, therefore, people began to turn more to high-performance organic pigment substitutes with excellent performance.

 

(6) High-performance organic pigments have the characteristics of product diversity and relatively small production volume.

 

As a branch of fine chemicals, high-performance organic pigments have the characteristics of a variety of products, a relatively fine application market, and a relatively small output of a single product.