Core/Shell Pigments with Polyaniline Shell: Optical and Physical-Technical Properties

Core/shell pigments allow for the combination of the active anti-corrosion effect of the shell and the barrier effect of the core. This makes it possible to obtain anti-corrosion pigments, with a high-protective effect and low toxicity. Thus, the need for a comprehensive study of the properties of these pigments grows more urgent, before their application to paints and varnishes. The hiding power of core/shell pigments comes close to the one of pure polyaniline (PANi), when the PANi content in the pigment reaches 50 wt.%, with sulfuric and phosphoric acids used as dopants. This paper, also, shows that the blackness value of core/shell pigments with 10 wt.% PANi is around 35 and constant; for pure PANi, their blackness value is 40. When PANi content is 5 wt.%, kaolin-based pigment shows the lowest blackness, which happens due to a generally higher whiteness of kaolin. However, when the PANi content surpasses 10 wt.%, there seems to be no influence on the blackness of the core/shell pigments. The core/shell pigment with a 20 wt.% PANi is, optically, identical to a black-iron-oxide pigment. An increase in the PANi content of the core/shell pigment leads to an increase in the oil absorption of the samples. It was found that the dispersion process would be the most energy efficient for core/shell pigments, containing kaolin and talc as a core.