Why Use Additive Dispersions?

What are the benefits of using additive dispersants in plastics?

An additive dispersion is a means of taking a solid particle (pigment, blowing agent or fire retardant) and dispersing this in a liquid, and to form the particle to then suspend in a solution or paste. Products can be tailored for viscosity, degree of dispersion, additive content and / or colour tolerance This process is conducted through various mixing techniques from high speed or high torque mixing combined with differing mixing blades to produce different levels and controls of dispersion over a range of viscosities for various end-users. 

Additive dispersion is an essential part of manufacturing many plastics. Dispersants can be used for:

1. Pigments – the specific advantage of this is having a matched colour which is fully dispersed. This can then be added directly into the end user’s product which will not alter the colour within their mixing / processing thereafter. This matched colour dispersion is controlled through our colour centre by a spectrophotometer to ensure the colour is reproducible and repeatable every time.

2. Blowing agents – this is a versatile product type used in a wide variety of industries are to generally expand plastics to create a cellular foam. But the advantages of using a dispersed blowing agent are that it can be used to reduce health and safety risks by ease of handling, prevention of dust and processing advantages to the end user.

3. Fire retardants – these dispersions are used to ensure that fire retardancy is effective throughout the entirety of the end users’ product. This is important for reducing health and safety risks. Once dispersed, fire retardants are a difficult particle to mill, so a dispersion aids the processing and provides an ease of use advantage to the end user. The article can be tested to the plastics flammability standard UL 94, which is defined as the “Standard for Safety of Flammability of Plastic Materials for Parts in Devices and Appliances testing”. 

Polyblend are experienced and highly skilled in the production of Additive Dispersions.  With our expertise and experience in formulation, PolyBlend can prepare and supply custom additive dispersions, suited to your requirements.