What Are The Types Of Masterbatch?

Masterbatch, referred to as color concentrate, stands as a specialized colorant for polymer materials. It comprises pigments or dyes, carriers, and additives, achieving a higher tinting power than the pigment alone, functioning as a pigment concentrate.

Primarily applied in plastics, masterbatch comes in different types categorized by applications, carriers, functions, user conditions, and colors. This diversity contributes to a range of color effects in plastic or rubber products. 

Classification according to different colors

According to the different colors, masterbatch can be divided into black, white and various different colors (yellow, green, red, orange, brown, blue, silver, gold, purple, gray, pink masterbatch, etc). Among them, the most commonly used and widely used one is black masterbatch.

Black Masterbatch

Black masterbatch is the most commonly used color masterbatch in plastic processing and is also the largest color masterbatch. It has the advantages of UV protection, spray resistance, conductivity, etc.

Black masterbatch is made by mixing the dye and the corresponding polyethylene resin carrier evenly, extruding it through high-energy internal mixing with a precision co-rotating twin-screw extruder or plastic banbury mixer, and then cooling and pelletizing. Different production processes, different polyethylene carriers and different pigment additives will determine the quality and use of masterbatch.

Black masterbatch is widely used in plastic processing industries such as injection molding, extrusion molding and blow molding. In real life, it is widely used in injection molding of automobile plastic parts, extrusion molding of plastic pipes, and production of agricultural mulch films and geotechnical materials.

White Masterbatch

While both white masterbatch and black masterbatch serve the purpose of coloring plastics, they differ in their applications and characteristics. White masterbatch is primarily used to give a solid, opaque white color to plastic products. It enhances the opacity and coverage of colored plastics, ensuring that the underlying color or substrate remains concealed.

Therefore, it depends on the choice of colorant. Generally, carbon black is used as the colorant for black masterbatch, while the colorants used in white masterbatch are mainly titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate, barium sulfate, etc.

White masterbatch has the advantages of good dispersion, environmental protection, strong tinting power, strong light fastness, high hiding power, and easy operation. Mainly suitable for injection molded parts, packaging bottles, etc.

Color Masterbatch (Various Colors)

Masterbatches are made by mixing various pigments or dyes into a polyethylene resin carrier and are also available in a range of other vibrant colors. The choice of production methods, polyethylene carriers, and pigment additives dictates the quality and applications of the color masterbatch. With versatility as its hallmark, color masterbatch finds widespread use across industries, allowing for the creation of visually appealing and diverse colored plastic products.