Highly Versatile Aluminum Flake for Water, Solvent and Ultra-Low VOC Coatings and Inks

By Dieter Groβschartner , Ingo Giesinger, Jonathan Doll, Jason Eyink

Liquid coatings and inks are facing increased pressure with respect to the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). As a result, ink and coating formulators have to balance safety, regulatory, and emission standards while meeting their customers’ performance requirements. For low-VOC, metallic formulations, aluminum pigments are used to impart a desirable silver or metallic effect with excellent hiding power.

In these applications, aluminum is typically supplied as either a dry powder or waterborne preparation, however, stringent safety measures are required to prevent dust explosions and corrosion, which can release hydrogen gas. In this article, a versatile, VOC-free aluminum preparation is introduced that can be formulated into a variety of solvent- and water-borne inks and coatings while directly addressing the aforementioned safety concerns.

Minimum explosion energy (MIE) and gassing data, as well as formulation and performance data are presented for both water- and solvent-based systems.