Ultramarine Blue

Ultramarine Blue is Synthetic Inorganic. It is a blue pigment of sodium aluminosilicate containing sulphur. It is prepared by heating kaolin, sodium carbonate, sulphur and other inexpensive ingredients together. It is heat and alkali resistant. It is used for optical whiteness in plastics, rubber, inks, paints, cosmetics, detergents, cement, textile and paper.

Being a consumer product, Ultramarine is used for brightening the white cotton cloth after washing and to provide blue color and brightness to plastics and rubber used in the industries. It acts as a brightening agent
in white washing and is the only ultramarine blue pigment that does not fade under sunlight or heat
(UPTO 350 DEGREES). It also has various other usage.

• As blue colorant in master batches and plastic resins.
• As an optical whitener on fabric, paper, plastics, rubber and paints.
• As blue colorant in printing inks.
• Finer qualities are used in painting and engraving
• Ultramarine Blue is 50% used for laundry, 40% for the white washes on exterior surface and 10% for the Industrial use.

Masterbatch
The non-shrinking, non-warping nature of ultramarine blue, along with its exceptional heat and light stability has led to the development of a range of high quality ultramarine blue pigments specifically for masterbatchs applications. This pigment is widely used in applications that require improved appearance as regards brightness, transparency, surface smoothness. this color masterbatch also provides improved mechanical properties preferred for manufacturing of thin films, pressure pipes, fibres, bottles, etc.

Further, the leather industry uses sodium bisulfite to make finished leather products more wearable, waterproof and longer lasting. In addition to its use as a food preservative, the food industry also uses sodium bisulfite as a bleaching agent. Additionally, metal workers use sodium bisulfite to finish metals.

Inks
Ultramarine Blue are suitable for use in inks due to their inorganic pigment nature. They show good wettability in water systems and good resistance to organic solvents. Moreover, properties such as good light resistance and low oil absorption allow Ultramarine Blue to be used in different types of inks e.g. flexographic.

Paints
Ultramarine Blue is used in a variety of paints for Oil Paints, Water and Acrylic Paints, water-based Emulsion Paints etc. It provides a bluish undertone, while providing uniformity in the composition. Ultramarine Blue pigment it displays high fastness to alkalis, air, light, water, detergents and organic solvents.

Surface Coating
Ultramarine Blue occupies a unique position in the blue color space that can not be achieved by any other pigment or blend of pigments. The reddish undertone of Ultramarine Blue, highly appreciated both in mass tone and tint applications in surface coating. This makes the pigment clearly differentiated from any Blue Phthalocyanine and any Cobalt Blue, even if they are in combination with organic violet pigments.

Plastic & Rubber
Ultramarine pigment is used to provide a reddish blue shade or to whiten polymers. It also works to provide a blue undertone to grey and black plastic parts. They are compatible and suitable for all kinds of polymers, from polyolefins to engineering polymers, including rubber as well. The fine particles of the Ultramarine blue maintains dimensional stability of polyolefins and other polymers, so that warping and shrinking do not take place.

Paper Ultramarine
Blue is used in paper industry for whitening of cellulose pulp and the coloration of the outside coating on coloured and stucco papers. Some manufacturers used a blend of Ultramarine Blue and a optical whitener to achieve affect optical whitening especially under a light which is rich in ultraviolet rays. Both products are very compatible and do not present any problem.

Toiletries & Cosmetics
Ultramarine Pigments is used in many types of Toiletries formulations e.g. shampoos, soaps, gels.It is much valued in cosmetics for their brightness, their non-irritability characteristic and the very low levels of any impurity. Some examples of fields of application are eye shadows, face powders and artistic make-ups.