Merck effect pigments for the automotive industry - More than just color

Today, around 70% of car buyers opt for effect coatings, regardless of the color they choose. In the automotive industry this fact promotes stiff competition among suppliers, with each manufacturer trying to present a unique color range to set his company’s product apart from that of the competition. The demands placed on the technical properties of the pigments are extremely stringent. Merck is able to cater to these demands through its extensive range of weather-resistant effect pigments. Merck offers innovative color proposals particularly for automotive paint manufacturers, and provides suggestions and tips for tomorrow's design trends in OEM automotive coatings today.

Can effect pigments speed up cars? New, interesting, important Merck Pigments challenge wind and weather The quality requirements imposed on coatings for exterior applications are much higher than those for internal applications. Consequently, Merck has developed its own range of weather-resistant pigments which meet the stringent demands of modern automotive applications through incorporation of an additional substance layer. We supply weather-resistant pigments in the Iriodin®, Xirallic® and Colorstream® product families.	Applications/products Iriodin® Shimmering pearl luster effects in silver-white, interference, as well as gold and metal luster effects transform an automotive paint into something clearly unique and special. Colorstream® These multicolor effect pigments create extremely pure, brilliant interference colors having goniochromatic properties, the so-called color travel. The Colorstream® effect is characterized by the ‘flowing’ color play that depends on the angle of observation and the incidence of light. Xirallic® These crystal luster effect pigments fascinate with their outstanding brilliance and powerful luster and appear in particularly clear and pure colors. This effect is intensified even further in sunlight. Pyrisma® These innovative interference pigments, developed especially for the coating industry, set a new standard with their outstanding color saturation and the specially developed particle size distribution. A total of eight interference pigments make up the “Merck Color Space Concept.