In automotive coatings, color isn’t just aesthetic; it’s a performance metric. From deep jet blacks to high-chroma specialty colors, the quality of pigment dispersion directly impacts appearance, efficiency, and cost.
Yet many formulators still face familiar challenges:
The good news: these challenges are often solved not by changing pigments, but by optimizing the additive package used during dispersion.
When pigments don’t disperse efficiently, the impact goes beyond appearance.
Longer grind times mean:
Poor dispersion can also reduce color strength, forcing formulators to use more pigment to achieve the same visual effect. That increases raw material costs and can negatively impact viscosity and film properties. Optimizing dispersion allows coatings to reach target color faster and often with less pigment.
Modern dispersants and wetting agents are designed to break up grouped pigments more effectively and stabilize them once dispersed. When properly selected, they can deliver:
In solventborne systems, dispersants must balance wetting efficiency with compatibility and film properties. Strong dispersion stability helps maintain consistency through production and application.
For example, Borchi® Gen 0451, a PUR-based, 100% active wetting and dispersing additive, is specifically engineered for carbon black needing high jetness, as well as difficult-to-disperse organic pigments. The solvent-free technology supports universal colorant systems while enhancing jetness (My) and hue-dependent blackness (Mc), improving bluish undertone, and enabling shorter grind times with lower-viscosity dispersions in both water- and solvent-based systems.
Achieving high jetness in carbon black systems is one of the most demanding dispersion challenges. Even small improvements in particle size distribution can dramatically impact undertone, transparency, and depth.
Wetting and dispersing additives like Borchi® Gen 0451 are designed to adsorb strongly onto hydrophobic carbon black surfaces, converting them into more easily wet particles and preventing re-agglomeration. This stabilization allows formulators to achieve deeper jet blacks with improved gloss and color development.
Waterborne automotive coatings
Waterborne systems often require additional attention to pigment wetting and stabilization. Proper dispersant selection helps maintain low viscosity while achieving strong color development.
In waterborne automotive coatings, Borchi® Gen 0851 supports efficient wetting and dispersion of carbon black and organic pigments. Its polyurethane-based chemistry maximizes pigment surface interaction, resulting in improved grind efficiency, higher transparency, and long-term viscosity stability in aqueous systems.
Waterborne systems often require additional attention to pigment wetting and stabilization. Proper dispersant selection helps maintain low viscosity while achieving strong color development.
In waterborne automotive coatings, Borchi® Gen 0851 supports efficient wetting and dispersion of carbon black and organic pigments. Its polyurethane-based chemistry maximizes pigment surface interaction, resulting in improved grind efficiency, higher transparency, and long-term viscosity stability in aqueous systems.
When optimizing dispersion performance, formulators should evaluate:
Working with additive partners early in formulation development can help reduce iteration cycles and improve overall performance consistency.
Efficient pigment dispersion supports:
In automotive coatings, where visual performance and production efficiency must align, optimizing dispersion is one of the fastest ways to improve both.
Once dispersion and color development are optimized, the next step is ensuring the entire coating system performs, from cure speed to flow and durability.
Read Part 2:
Designing Automotive Coatings That Flow, Cure, and Perform
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In automotive coatings, color isn’t just aesthetic; it’s a performance metric. From deep jet blacks to high-chroma specialty colors, the quality of pigment dispersion directly impacts appearance, efficiency, and cost. Yet many formulators still face familiar challenges: The good news:
Coating performance is a system — not a single additive Achieving high-performance automotive coatings requires more than optimizing one property at a time. Flow, cure speed, hardness, pot life, and durability all interact. When one variable shifts, others often follow:
Adhesives and sealants are essential components in modern manufacturing, construction, automotive assembly, and industrial production. From bonding structural components to protecting joints from moisture and contaminants, these materials play a critical role in ensuring durability and performance across manyapplications. While
