DARMSTADT, GERMANY - With the market launch of Meoxal® Atacama Red, Merck is complementing its Meoxal® line of pigments named after deserts.
Following Meoxal® Wahiba Orange and Meoxal® Taklamakan Gold, the red is the third aluminum-based effect pigment in the series. Meoxal® Atacama Red stands out due to its color intensity, high saturation and brilliance. The new pigment family was developed primarily for automotive coatings, as well as for many further exterior applications and plastic coatings. "We are proud to have successfully launched first colors in the new Meoxal® family of products, an innovation from our own research labs," said Inese Lowenstein, Head of the Business Unit Pigments & Cosmetics. "The positive feedback from our first customers makes us very optimistic. Apart from color brilliance, customers really appreciate the fact that Meoxal® is very easy to use in their own processes."
Optical brilliance coupled with ideal technical properties
Meoxal® Atacama Red is named after the Chilean Atacama desert, which is famous for its red sands. Inspired by this unique landscape, the brilliance and elegance of this new effect pigment are captivating. The shade is warm and rich and it stands out due to its high color purity, which results from a specific metal oxide coating. Even in low concentrations, Meoxal® exhibits intensive color strength.
To achieve these optimum coloristic and technical properties, Merck has developed a pigment technology that combines well-established and new processes. Fine and homogeneous, Meoxal® has a small particle size distribution
Not only the color brilliance, but also the technical properties of Meoxal® Atacama Red are of particular relevance to customers. Like all Meoxal® products, the new red pigment also undergoes a special carbitol and weather (CWT) surface treatment. This treatment gives the pigments tremendous stability and optimizes them for high-end exterior applications, for instance in automotive and plastic coatings. A further advantage for customers is that Meoxal® is easy to use in water-borne coating systems since usually no additional passivation is needed. All Meoxal® products are supplied as pastes. These pastes not only increase safety when handling metallic pigments, they also improve their long-term stability. Based on intensive stability tests the guaranteed shelf-life of the first two Meoxal® products, Wahiba Orange and Taklamakan Gold, has been extended from one to a minimum of two years.
At the American Coatings Show from April 8 to 10, 2014 in Atlanta, Merck KGaA – under the brand of EMD Chemicals – will be showing numerous demo tools to prove the diversity of attractive color shades that Meoxal®effect pigments can be used to create.
Visitors to the American Coatings Show 2014 can find out more about Meoxal® at the booth 1549 of EMD Chemicals.
