Interview “Pigments could act as sustainable power sources

What trends will influence the pigment market regarding automotive coatings?

Özlem Ünlü Isık: Global trends such as saving resources, digitalisation, electric vehicles, climate change and even pandemic situation influence the pigment market and colour trends in a certain direction.

Products offered by the automotive industry often have – somewhat – similar designs. Surveys show that one of the primary criteria for consumers is individuality. Considering the recent developments in technology and the speed in change of colour trends, it would not be surprising in the future to instantly change the colour of pigments on a vehicle just by pressing a button and choosing any colour from a wide range of spectrum. As colour and appearance are fundamental elements of the perceived quality; unique colour design is crucial to serve individuality. Style departments, pigment and paint producers are cooperating continuously to find the optimum eye-catching colours resulting in high consumer demand.

Effect pigments are among the primary components for individuality and differentiated appearance. Automotive industry benefits from the superior properties of effect pigments which offer vivid chromaticity by expansion of colour and appearance space such as coloured metallic, high sparkle effect and high interference pigments. Brightness, good hiding power have gained significant importance for effect pigments. One of the main challenges of chromatic expectation in individuality is hiding power, whereas the mechanical performance is optimised via pigmentation level and film thickness. Higher pigmentation levels may often lead to mechanical and cohesive failures. Therefore, stronger hiding power at lower pigmentation and lower film thicknesses would lead to less paint and energy consumption.

On the other hand, lean and compact designs, urban mobility and car sharing influence the colour trends towards a more conventional neutral direction and natural palette.

Autonomous driving with the expected outcomes of flexibility, safer travel, driving comfort and efficiency have inevitable impacts on the pigment technology to be chosen in the long run. Self-driven cars communicate with their environment through RADAR-LiDAR systems. Therefore, pigment selection can influence signal transmission from vehicles and signal reflection from objects in the surroundings.

For low VOC and high solid paints, particle size, morphology and surface treatment of organic pigments should be improved. Crystal and molecular design of organic pigments should be well studied. Universal easy dispersible high-performance pigments will be highly appreciated by paint producers. Grinding pigments will be simplified if such kind of pigments are marketed.

Do you expect a demand for new functionalities of pigments?

Özlem Ünlü Isık: There is an increase in demand for pigments with functional benefits. Energy harvesting from any coated surface offers alternative energy supply. Pigments could act as sustainable power sources. Pigment particles to be excited by solar radiation may be used in conductive resins to produce electricity.

Paint formulations benefit from the barrier effects of pigments for various insulation purposes. Minimum IR absorbing cool colours are preferred for decreasing the impacts of heat-island and saving energy. Moreover, better UV resistant pigments that will protect the polymer from degradation are needed for longer term protection of exterior surfaces.

It is expected that the increasing demand in car sharing will necessitate a superior chemical resistance for interior coatings. Surface treated effect pigments will serve to increase the expected chemical resistance.

These answers are part of a longer article that can be found in the European Coatings Journal 03/2021. The issue is available digitally in our 360° online library.