Dyes and pigments are two colorant types that have made a great impact in each and every aspect of our life. Pigments are used in a host of applications ranging from paints, inks, plastics, textiles, automotive, military and hordes of other areas. Ease of application of these pigments is determined by pigment preparations.
Pigment preparation involves a pigment on which optimal dispersion has been undertaken so that it facilitates easy application for the end user. This implies that right amount of additives and required quantities of raw materials are added to ensure the best performance for the intended application. Among pigments, the phthalocyanine pigment manufacturers have an important role to play with regard to providing best quality of their product as copper phthalocyanine is one of the pigments that is sold in highest quantities all over the world. The phthalocyanine pigments in the visible region comprise the green, cyan and blue pigments. These are traditionally used in printing inks, paints for automotive industry, coloration in paper and textile industries etc. Latest high tech applications also involve the use of phthalocyanines like in electrophotography. Therein cyan toners find their use as colorants whereas laser printers as charge generation substances. Phthalocyanines that are infrared absorbing are endowed with varied attributes that make them an indispensable part in several sophisticated applications such as solar screens, optical data storage and photodynamic therapy. Phthalocyanines are stable to heat, alkali, acid, light and solvents, attributes that are desirable in any colorant. The shine, gloss and transparency obtained from these pigments equal none other.
As far as dyes are concerned there are several dyes used for varied applications depending upon their properties and chemical composition. Basic dyes, reactive dyes, acid dyes, disperse dyes, direct dyes and more are just to name a few that have touched every aspect of our life in one way or the other. In every application from textile dyeing to colorants for plastics to use in biotechnology, food and beverage industry and more the presence of dyes has become inevitable. They come in varied forms such as dry powders, pastes, granules, liquids, chips and pellets.
Among the dyes, reactive dyes are deeply colored organic materials mainly used in textile coloring. Its large scale use in the textile industry is attributed to its quality of forming a covalent bond with the substrate that has to be colored. These are one of the most long-lasting colorants among the dyes and ensure the product’s wash-ability and color stability. Garments that have been dyed through reactive dyes can be safely washed along with white garments without causing harm to the whites in any way. Reactive dyes are largely used to dye cellulose fibers though they also go towards dyeing nylon and wool.
With such wide scale applications of phthalocyanine pigments and reactive dyes it is the responsibility of the phthalocyanine pigments manufacturers as well as the reactive dyes manufacturers to ensure that strict quality standards are complied with during their production. All of them undertake several checks so that they do not provide anything but the best to obtain maximum satisfaction of the end user.