1. What is a masterbatch?

Masterbatch is also known as color seed. Masterbatch is a new type of colorant for polymer materials, also known as pigment preparation. It is composed of three basic elements: pigment or dye, carrier and additive. It is an aggregate obtained by uniformly attaching an extraordinary amount of pigment or dye to the resin, which can be called pigment concentrate, so its coloring power is higher than the pigment itself. To put it simply, a masterbatch is an aggregate obtained by uniformly attaching an extraordinary amount of pigment or dye to the resin.

2. What are the basic components of masterbatch?

The basic components of masterbatch are:

2.1. Pigment or dye

Pigments are divided into organic pigments and inorganic pigments

Common organic pigments include: phthalocyanine red, phthalocyanine blue, phthalocyanine green, sun-fast red, macromolecular red, macromolecular yellow, permanent yellow, permanent purple, azo red, etc.

Common inorganic pigments include: cadmium red, cadmium yellow, titanium dioxide, carbon black, iron oxide red, iron oxide yellow, etc.

2.2 Carrier

The carrier is the matrix of the masterbatch. Special masterbatch generally chooses the same resin as the product resin as the carrier, and the compatibility of the two is the best, but the fluidity of the carrier should also be considered.

2.3 Dispersant

To make the pigment evenly dispersed and no longer agglomerated, the melting point of the dispersant should be lower than that of the resin, and it has good compatibility with the resin and good affinity with the pigment. The most commonly used dispersants are: polyethylene low molecular wax and stearate.

2.4 Additives

Such as flame retardant, brightening, antibacterial, antistatic, antioxidant and other varieties, unless the customer requires, masterbatch generally does not contain the above additives.

3. What varieties and grades are masterbatch divided into?

The following are the commonly used classification methods of masterbatch:

Classification by carrier: such as PE masterbatch, PP masterbatch, ABS masterbatch, PVC masterbatch, EVA masterbatch, etc.

Classification by use: such as injection masterbatch, blow molding masterbatch, spinning masterbatch, etc.

Each variety can be divided into different grades, such as:

3.1 Advanced injection masterbatch:

Used for cosmetic packaging boxes, toys, electrical housings and other advanced products.

3.2 Ordinary injection masterbatch:

Used for general daily plastic products, industrial containers, etc.

3.3 Advanced blown film masterbatch:

Used for blow molding coloring of ultra-thin products.

3.4 Ordinary blown film masterbatch:

Used for blow molding coloring of general packaging bags and woven bags.

3.5 Spinning masterbatch:

Used for textile fiber spinning coloring, masterbatch pigment particles are fine, high concentration, strong coloring power, good heat resistance and light resistance.

3.6 Low-grade masterbatch:

Used to manufacture low-grade products with low color quality requirements, such as trash cans, low-grade containers, etc.

3.7 Special masterbatch:

It is a masterbatch manufactured by using the same plastic as the carrier according to the plastic variety specified by the user for the product. For example, PP masterbatch and ABS masterbatch use PP and ABS as carriers respectively.

Universal masterbatch: It also uses a certain resin (often low-melting point PE) as a carrier, but it can be used for coloring other resins except its carrier resin.

3.8 Universal masterbatch:

Universal masterbatch is relatively simple and convenient, but it has many disadvantages. It is recommended that users choose special masterbatch.

The heat resistance level of special masterbatch is generally compatible with the plastic used for the product, and it can be used safely at normal temperature. However, it will cause different degrees of discoloration in the following cases, one is that the temperature exceeds the normal range, and the other is that the downtime is too long.

3.9 Masterbatch coloring has the following advantages over granulation coloring:

3.9.1. Coloring and product processing are completed at one time, avoiding the heating process of plastics during granulation coloring, which is good for protecting the quality of plastic products.

3.9.2. It simplifies the production process of plastic products.

3.9.3. It can save a lot of electricity.