NEWS

Shepherd Color’s Cobalt Blue Pigments

May 1, 2023

arctic blue pigments ci pigment blue 28 cobalt aluminate cobalt blues dynamix fda plastic coatings yinmn

When it comes to coloring your coatings, plastics, glass enamel or other materials, Shepherd Color has the blue pigment for you

While almost all colors have thoughts associated with them, we can actually feel blue. It can be calming but also the color of adventure in the air or on the sea. Art and science have conspired together to bring us new blue pigments, and people have even patented different blue shades. But blue is not just a single color, it ranges from red-shades butting up against violet to lighter green-shades that are almost whimsical in nature. Blue has a special place for The Shepherd Color Company since it is the color of our company logo for over 100 years, starting with The Shepherd Chemical Company.

Most of our blue pigments are based on cobalt aluminate chemistries with other elemental modifiers added to elicit a wide range of shades. Calcined at over 2000F/1100C for the ultimate in inertness and durability, the cobalt blues are the standard for high-durability coatings, engineering plastics, glass and porcelain enamels, and the smallest but best known use – artist paints. This inertness also means that they are available for use in all the major markets of the world, and find use in such sensitive applications as coloring food containers.

While the recently commercialized YInMn Blue 10G513 is a new chemistry with outstanding color and infrared hyperspectral properties, our new Blue 20G599 pushes the edge of the durable color envelope while being based on standard cobalt aluminate blue pigment chemistry. While significantly redder and bluer than any of our other pigments in this color space, it retains all the historical regulatory and application approvals of piments in the CI Pigment Blue 28 family.

YInMn Blue Artist Color

From this reddest shade we also have Blue 10C595 that has high gloss due to its low surface area and resin demand. Our Blue 385 and Blue 214 are the standards for coatings and plastics applications for decades. The Blue 299 is specially processed for use in artist color applications.

The greener blue pigments in the CI Pigment Blue 36 family are home to our Blue 211 which has a deep masstone and the highest tint-strength in its class. It is a standard for high-performance weatherable coatings and other materials.

Many of these pigments are part of our Arctic® infrared reflective pigment line. Arctic pigments deliver the best lifetime value because their performance delays or eliminates costly damage caused by sunlight. Less warping, twisting, fading and failure means big maintenance savings for any application. Products that use Arctic Pigments stay cooler, which means they are less prone to sun damage and enable more comfortable and sustainable environments.

Green 187B is a teal shade of blue while Blue 424 in the CI Pigment Green 50 family is commonly used in food containers. Versions of the Blue 211 and Green 187B are available with FDA FCN approvals for use in food contact applications – a Shepherd Color exclusive.

We have also leveraged the inherent properties of these blue pigments with our exclusive Dynamix® easily-dispersed technology for quick and easy development and production of coatings and plastic fibers. Dynamix Blue 30C591 and Blue 30C588 red-shade blues and the green-shade Dynamix Blue 30C527 will change how you make high-performance coatings.