What is masterbatch?

What is masterbatch?

Masterbatch is a solid additive for plastics used to color plastics (color masterbatch) or transfer other properties to plastics (additive masterbatch).

A masterbatch is a concentrated mixture of pigments or additives that is encapsulated in a carrier resin during a thermal process, then cooled and cut into granules.

The masterbatch allows the processor to color the polymer economically during the plastic process.

The options of using masterbatches or mixing raw materials on site (which tends to cause problems in the complete dispersion of paint and additives and prone to preparing more materials)

Masterbatch components

Base polymer: The base polymer must be similar to the plastic used in plastic injection and its appearance is grainy or granular.

Chemicals and additives: Color powder or pigments, improvers and chemical or mineral fillers are considered as additives and are added to the polymer in order to produce color, improve properties or reduce the cost.

Compatibilizer: The compatibilizer is one of the other components of the masterbatch that improves the spreadability of the additive or color.

Masterbatch benefits

  • It saves money, time and energy for mixing powders and labor
  • Prevent pollution in the environment
  • Ease of use with specific weight percentages
  • Proper spreading and mixing and preventing cloudiness and windiness
  • Preventing graining and creating an uneven surface
  • Additional operations such as better printing and sewing
  • Accelerating transportation and production operations

Masterbatch production steps in Armen Polymer Company

If raw materials are needed in powder or granule form, first they are uniformly combined in mixers under specific temperature and time conditions. The combined raw materials are transferred manually or mechanically to the feeding area or feeders.

The mixed materials in the length of the cylinder, which is about three to three and a half meters, are first melted at appropriate temperatures. Very uniform composition = advancing operation towards the head of the dominants and finally exiting the cylinder after exiting the materials, which at this time are converted into strings or granules (fine grains) in several ways according to the equipment of the machine.

In this part of our intermediate product, the raw materials are converted into strings or granules (fine grains) under conditions suitable for the equipment of the machine.

In this part, our intermediate product should undergo a simple but very important cooling operation under the appropriate conditions by equipping the device with air or water tubs in completely stable and uniform conditions.

After the cooling stage, the water and gases from the previous stages are completely removed by centrifuges and dryers.

The final stage is the packaging of the products, which are made of polyethylene bags under the brand name FFS or polypropylene, and in some products, in order to penetrate moisture or external factors, they are made of aluminum or multi-layer mixed packaging.

Types of masterbatch

Black masterbatch

White masterbatch

Additional masterbatch

Color masterbatch

Calcium carbonate masterbatch

pastille masterbatch

Application masterbatch

Masterbatch is an important compound used in industries such as auto parts, home appliances, packaging, pipe production, fittings, etc.