Preparing UV curable-encapsulated phthalocyanine blue pigment
Researchers prepared aqueous dispersions of nano-scale C.I. Pigment Blue 15:3 (PB15:3) through ball milling and ultrasonication in presence of dispersing agents.
They developed a novel encapsulation of pigment through mini-emulsion approached by using UV-curable resins. Critical factors included the mode of preparation; type of dispersing agent and the type of photo initiator.
Effective for ink formulations of cotton fabrics
Results showed that use of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) maintained a high stability of dispersion with storage. The thermal analysis, ultracentrifuge sedimentation and morphologies provided supporting evidences for the encapsulation of PB 15:3 into UV-curable resins. The acrylate oligomers based on polyester acrylate in the presence of water soluble initiator stabilises the mini-emulsion droplets and ink formulation with time. The methods provided encapsulated phthalocyanine blue pigment dispersion in which found to be durable and effective in preliminary application for ink formulations of cotton fabric.
The study is published in: Progress in Organic Coatings, Volume 84, July 2015, Pages 70-78.
