The usage of colorants in abrasives and grinding tools

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The use of colorants in the field of grinding and grinding tools has become increasingly popular. Today, color has emerged as a crucial design tool to express various purposes, styles, and individuality in these abrasive products. Colorants are widely employed in common resin abrasives, super hard material resin abrasives, rubber abrasives, coated abrasives, ceramic abrasives, and polishing materials. These colored grinding and grinding tools exhibit higher demand and more significant profit margins compared to their colorless counterparts.

The Benefits of Using Colorants:

1. Aesthetic Appeal and Value Enhancement:

Colorants can provide a beautiful array of colors to the products, thereby increasing their market value. Properly applied colorants can improve a product's resistance to light aging, offering protection to the item.

Requirements for Colorants in Grinding and Grinding Tools:

1. Performance Criteria:

a)Excellent Coloring and Coverage Ability: Colorants must possess strong coloring and coverage properties to impart vibrant colors to the products.

b)No Adverse Effects on Physical and Mechanical Properties: Colorants should not impact the physical and mechanical properties or aging resistance of the products. They should resist fading or discoloration over time.

c)Ease of Dispersion: Colorants should disperse easily within the materials, ensuring a uniform and consistent hue.

d)No Migration or Penetration: Colorants must not migrate or penetrate the material to avoid compromising the quality of the product.

e)Non-Toxic: Colorants used in grinding and grinding tools should be non-toxic to ensure the safety of users and the environment.

Commonly Used Colorants in Grinding and Grinding Tools and Their Properties:

a)Iron Oxide Red: Also known as iron red or Sudan, iron oxide red is a cost-effective red colorant with strong coloring and coverage abilities. It exhibits excellent resistance to high temperatures, atmospheric influences, and all types of alkalis. However, variations in the production process and conditions lead to differences in the crystal structure, state, and composition, resulting in significant color differences among products.

b)Chromium Oxide Green: Ranging from bright green to dark green, chromium oxide green is highly temperature-resistant and exhibits excellent light and chemical solvent resistance.

c)Iron Oxide Black: Iron black is a saturated blue-black colorant with exceptional coverage and coloring abilities, albeit lower than carbon black. It is stable under sunlight and atmospheric exposure, resistant to all types of alkalis but can dissolve in acids.

d)Carbon Black: Carbon black is a finely powdered black substance mainly composed of carbon, with trace amounts of oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, etc. It is insoluble in various solvents.

e)Titanium Dioxide: Also known as titanium white or titanium white powder, titanium dioxide is the most potent white pigment with excellent coverage and coloring stability. It exhibits good light stability and is non-toxic.

Technical Indicators and Applications of Colorants in Grinding and Grinding Tools:

1. Technical Indicators:

a)Content: The effective content of colorants directly influences the amount of colorant used. For example, iron oxide red's effective content is its iron content, usually over 95%. Low iron content means the colorant contains impurities like red soil, leading to a significant decrease in production costs for the su supplier. However, the addition of iron oxide red in grinding and grinding tools would increase the user's application cost due to its low coloring power.

b)Solubility in  Water: This indicates the impurities in the colorant that can dissolve in water, mainly the remaining salt in the colorant. Generally, the lower the water solubility of colorants, the better, as high water-soluble salt content can affect the bonding strength of binders in the formulation.

c)Residue on  Sieve: This refers to the non-major component content in the pigment, typically in percentages greater than a certain particle size. The sieve residue in colorants should be controlled below 0.3%, and higher-quality pigments will have a residue below 0.1%. High sieve residue can cause clogging, uneven coloration, or the presence of particles during use.

d)pH Value: Colorants are generally neutral, and deviations towards alkaline or acidic properties can affect the formulation or product.

Applications of Colorants in Different Grinding and Grinding Tools:

a)Polishing Compounds: Polishing involves using flexible polishing tools and abrasive particles or other polishing media to modify the surface of the workpiece. The goal is to achieve a smooth or mirror-like finish or even to eliminate gloss(matte finish). Due to their inherent hardness, iron oxides are an ideal choice for polishing or grinding agents. They have been used for metal polishing for decades, for instance, in chrome-plated faucets, car bumpers, and surface treatments for glass, such as automotive windshields or optically superior glass. Iron oxides are also employed as similar abrasive applications, providing excellent grinding capabilities.

Common fillers for polishing compounds include semi-hydrated gypsum powder, fine-grained corundum or silicon carbide powder, diatomaceous earth, pyrite, zinc sulfide, zinc barium white, CaO/Mg O, etc. The use of iron oxide red colorants in polishing compounds is mainly for aesthetic purposes, with carbon black being another popular choice.

b)Coated Abrasives: Coated abrasives mainly consist of a substrate, abrasive material, and bonding agent. Iron oxide red colorants, when mixed with the bonding agent, are applied to the substrate and then coated with another layer after s adding. Their primary purpose is to enhance aesthetics.

Colorants have become an essential design tool in the grinding and grinding tool industry. They not only add an aesthetic appeal to the products but also enhance their value. However, careful consideration must be given to the properties and characteristics of the colorants used to ensure they meet the performance requirements and technical indicators. The choice of colorants can significantly impact the effectiveness and marketability of grinding and grinding tools. As the industry continues to evolve, manufacturers should continue to explore innovative ways to incorporate colorants effectively, meeting both functional and visual demands to gain a competitive edge in the market.