Colorants
AOC Formulations develops custom colorants and additives for automotive, bath, marine, and other manufacturing industries. With more than 25 years’ experience, AOC colorants can meet all your needs.
Composites: Thermosets & Thermoplastics
- Exceptional color uniformity
- Good compatibility with different filler combinations
- Can be custom formulated for cost targets, weathering requirements, and physical properties
Adhesives & Sealants
- Custom tailored viscosities can be achieved
- Full line of wetting, dispersing, air release additives to meet customers process requirements
- Very stable formulations
Foam
- High pigment loadings for strong, vibrant colors
- High pigment loading in black can reduce total amount needed
About Chroma-Tek® Colorants
AOC’s flagship colorant brand, Chroma-Tek® is an industry standard for pigment dispersions:
- Rapid color matching and customization
- Consistent batch to batch quality
- High performing pigments, including UV stable dispersions for exterior applications
- Batch size flexibility and short lead times
AOC can provide you with high quality colorant and pigments for coloring your composite components, giving you great products with superior aesthetics.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes AOC colorants different from paint?
AOC colorants are pigment dispersions for the thermoset and thermoplastic markets. They are an intermediate product with a primary purpose of adding color to create compounds and finished products such as thermoset and thermoplastic resin matrices, and coatings.
Paints, on the other hand, are the finished product intended to be applied directly to a substrate to provide aesthetic and protective cosmetic finishes.
Will your AOC colorants fade over time?
AOC has a long history of developing UV-stable pigment solutions, and our portfolio of interior and exterior pigments vary in light and weather fastness. When using exterior-grade pigments with good weather fastness, the weatherability of other chemistries incorporated into resin matrices and compound/coating formulations should be vetted.
For more information about weatherable pigments, download our data sheet.
What’s the process for making a new AOC colorant pigment dispersion?
Creating a new pigment dispersion may require formula optimization to create a pigment concentrate that maintains processability (i.e., good rheological properties), and dispersing pigments in a liquid resin by high-shear mixing and milling. The process for making new color matches typically requires blending on average 3-4 stock pigments using a variable-speed mixer.
Can you color match?
Yes! Please contact our technical team to discuss your color target and application.
What’s the difference between water-based and solvent-based pigment dispersions?
These are pigments dispersed in water-based or solvent-based media and are intended to be paired with its respective water-based or solvent-based coating and paint formulation for compatibility.