Additive | Matt

Matt Masterbatch

Matt Masterbatch consists of a concentrated mixture of pigments and/or encapsulated additives manufactured by heating a carrier resin and then cooling it and cutting it into granules. The masterbatch thus allows the transformer to colour and give characteristics to the natural polymer economically in the plastics transformation process.

Technical Advantages | Shelf Life

• Prevents problems of agglomeration of additives or colourants as well as dispersion problems.
• Does not contain solvents and therefore has a longer shelf life.
• Contains an average of 40-65% additive, but the range can reach 15-80% in extreme cases.
• A 25kg bag processes up to one tonne of raw material. Thus, the relatively dilute nature of the materbatches allows for greater precision when dosing small quantities.

Carrier and Dosage

The masterbatch carrier must be identical/compatible with the polymer. For example, EVA or LDPE is a compatible carrier with polyolefins and nylon, as is polystyrene with ABS, SAN and sometimes polycarbonates.

In this sense, when the masterbatch carrier is incompatible with the raw material, changes may occur in the properties of the processed material. The processor must specify the characteristics of the raw material. The percentage of use of masterbatches in relation to the raw material is between 1 and 5 %. Colour and additive masterbatches can be combined.

Adverse effects

• Adverse effects sometimes occur, such as the masterbatch separating from the raw material in the machine hopper.
• The masterbatch, solid or liquid, is added directly to the machine spindle via a peristaltic pump.
• The use of liquid masterbatches also makes it possible to obtain highly precise dosages and rapid colour changes between production runs.

Matt Masterbatch | Transformation processes

Masterbatches are compatible with most processes, with the exception of rotational moulding, plastisol and other liquid resin systems.

The development of a matt effect on plastic surfaces can greatly differentiate the appearance of packaging articles and therefore bring additional value to the packager or the brand owner.

ADPLAST has developed a range of Matt Masterbatches compounds for the production of matt surfaces in a wide rage of extrusion processes (e.g. BOPP, cast, blown, sheet, calendaring) and blow moulding.

Matt Masterbatches have been designed to improve overall processing conditions, such as, among others:

• Lower pressure in front of filter to allow higher throughput;
• Good coextrusion properties;
• Reduced die build up.

The main applications of these Matt Masterbatches compounds are found in the production of matt tape base films, matt films for lamination on paper and cardboard, and packaging films that combine reverse print, dry or wet, laminated onto PE, CPP or BOPP.

In addition these Matt Masterbatches compounds have excellent interlayer adhesion properties and provide excellent performance in a variety of converting techniques such as metallization, lamination or UV curing.

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