Application of Anjeka 6871 in Water-based resin-free pigment pastes

In the formulation design of water-based coatings and inks, resin-free pigment concentrates are highly favored for their flexibility, versatility, and ease of inventory management. However, achieving high pigment content, excellent storage stability, and good final film properties (such as water and solvent resistance) has always been a core technical challenge. The choice of dispersant directly determines the success or failure of the pigment concentrate. Today, we will delve into the outstanding performance of Anjeka 6871 dispersant from Anjeka in preparing high-performance water-based resin-free pigment concentrates through specific technical cases.

Traditional dispersants often face issues like sharp viscosity increase, low grinding efficiency, and re-coarsening/flocculation after storage when pursuing high pigment content. Especially when dealing with difficult-to-disperse systems like carbon black and organic pigments, how to increase pigment content without sacrificing fluidity and stability is a pain point for many engineers. Furthermore, the subsequent compatibility, color development of the pigment concentrate, and the final film's resistance properties (e.g., water, alcohol/ether) are also critical indicators that must be considered.

Anjeka 6871 is a high molecular weight water-based dispersant based on an SMA (Styrene-Maleic Anhydride) backbone. Its unique polymer structure provides strong steric hindrance, effectively coating pigment particles and preventing their re-flocculation. This mechanism lays a solid foundation for achieving the following performance:

• Powerful Viscosity Reduction, Achieving Ultra-High Pigment Content: Through the tight binding of anchoring groups to the pigment surface, the polymer chains fully extend in the medium, greatly reducing inter-particle interactions, thereby allowing the system to carry higher pigment loads.
• Long-Term Stability, Withstanding Environmental Challenges: The formed stable dispersion system can effectively resist the energy impact from heat storage, maintaining relatively stable particle size and viscosity.
• Broad Compatibility, Enhancing Film Performance: It has good compatibility with various water-based resins, helping the pigment concentrate distribute evenly in the final film, contributing to gloss, color development, and various resistance properties.

The following cases are based on Anjeka laboratory test data, demonstrating the performance of Anjeka 6871 across different dimensions:

• Objective: To achieve the highest possible pigment content for titanium dioxide (R996) and carbon black (MA100) in a resin-free system while maintaining grindability and fluidity of the pigment concentrate.
• Process & Results: Through a series of formulation tests, Anjeka 6871 successfully pushed the pigment content of titanium dioxide paste to 70% and carbon black paste to 40%, with the ground paste showing good fluidity (viscosity data available).
• Value: Provides the possibility for producing high-concentration masterbatches, significantly reducing storage space and transportation costs, and improving production efficiency.

• Objective: To verify the stability of the pigment concentrate under accelerated aging conditions.
• Process & Results: White and black pastes prepared using Anjeka 6871 were placed in a 60°C oven for 7 days. Testing showed that the fineness of the pastes remained ≤10μm before and after heat storage. Although viscosity increased, it was within a controllable range (e.g., white paste increased from 50 mPa.s to 75 mPa.s), indicating excellent long-term storage stability.

• Objective: To evaluate the impact of the pigment concentrate on the key film property—water resistance.
• Process & Results: Pigment concentrates prepared with Anjeka 6871 and comparative dispersants were incorporated into resin systems like epoxy emulsion and hydroxypropyl emulsion to make paints. Panels were made and soaked in water for 24 hours. Comprehensive tests (blistering, adhesion, gloss change) indicated that Anjeka 6871 showed superior water resistance in most systems. For example, in the epoxy system, the paint film adhesion remained intact after soaking (peeling area <1%), and the gloss change (20°) was from 50 to 9.3, showing an advantage over other dispersants.

• Objective: To test the stability of the pigment concentrate in environments containing alcohol and ether solvents.
• Process & Results: Black and blue pastes prepared with Anjeka 6871 were dripped into ethanol and propylene glycol methyl ether solvents, mixed uniformly, and left to stand for 4 hours. Observation showed no re-coarsening or flocculation on the bottle wall, proving its excellent alcohol/ether resistance, making it suitable for formulations requiring such solvents to improve film formation or drying performance.

• Objective: To verify its dispersing effect and color development performance in an actual water-based floor coating formulation.
• Process & Results: In a water-based epoxy system floor coating formulation, a resin-free black paste was prepared using Anjeka 6871 and combined with the base material. Roller application experiments showed that the paint film had almost no lap marks, no flooding/floating, and excellent leveling, meeting the high requirements of floor coatings for color uniformity and application properties.

• Combined Use: It is recommended to use it together with Anjeka wetting agent Anjeka 7414 to achieve better initial wetting and viscosity reduction.
• Grinding Process: Use glass bead shaking grinding to ensure fineness reaches ≤10μm for optimal dispersion state and stability.
• System Verification: Although Anjeka 6871 has good versatility, it is still recommended to conduct small-scale tests when applying it to specific resin systems (especially strongly polar or special pH environments) to confirm compatibility and final performance.

Anjeka 6871, through its innovative polymer design, successfully balances the multiple demands of water-based resin-free pigment concentrates for high concentration, high stability, and excellent film performance. The above cases show that it is not only a tool to solve technical challenges but also a reliable choice to help coatings and ink companies achieve product upgrades, cost reduction, and efficiency improvement.