Masterbatch has covered the vast majority of our modern world. It’s easy to find random stuff around you that was made of masterbatch. We all know that plastic has outstanding features over other traditional materials such as wood or glass. But why primary plastic has been replaced with masterbatch? Here are 10 reasons why this material is considered as being even more advanced than raw plastic!

I. What is masterbatch?

Masterbatch is a concentrated compound, that usually appears in solid form as pellets but sometimes they are produced in liquid solution. This type of material consists of primary plastic, compound CaCO3 (or other similar plastic fillers, most of them are in powder form), colorant for plastic, and other additives. All these ingredients are heated until melting to form a unique and even solution, then this solution is cooled and cut into a granular shape. This material is considered a plastic additive with 3 main purposes: to reduce the amount of required primary plastic, to color, and to impart functional properties to plastic products. Also based on these functions, the masterbatches are divided into 3 major categories: calcium carbonate filler, color masterbatch and additive masterbatch.

II. 5 reasons why masterbatch is an indispensable solution for coloring plastic products

1. Masterbatch is the perfect solution to create colorful plastic products

As mentioned above, one of the most important purposes of using masterbatch is due to the economic benefit it brought to the manufacturers. Back to the beginning of the plastic industry, nearly all plastic products were made of primary resin, which is produced directly from petroleum and does not contain other ingredients. However, the amount of petroleum in nature is dramatically decreased due to the over-exploitation, thus leading to the consequence in the prices of crude oil keep rising in recent years. By replacing partly the primary plastic in plastic-based products production without affecting the original properties of the pure plastic, masterbatch is highly recommended as an effective solution for a wide range of applications.

2. Pellet form makes masterbatch more convenient to be stored and manipulated

Compared to powdered pigments, if manufacturers use color masterbatch as a colorant for plastic, it will be a lot easier to store them near the production systems without causing a messy working space. Staff working in these factories can also easily control the amount of used master batch and manipulate the whole manufacturing process, minimizing the chance of using too much amount of materials needed.

3. Using masterbatch releases less dust into the surrounding environment

Masterbatch, due to the dense and compacted structure of each solid pellet, causes less dust during the production processes, thus helping the manufacturers control and eliminate the contamination problems inside the factory. Meanwhile, pigments can well disperse into the air during manufacturing stages, this situation potentially causing contamination of the adjacent producing lines. Not only keep working space in factories clean, but this dust-free masterbatch is also safer and less likely to cause health risks for workers and consumers compared to the traditional undispersed pigments powder.

4. Masterbatch manufacturers can more easily control the appearance of products

Masterbatch is believed to enhance the dispersion of colorant for plastic and plastic additives in general up to the optimal level. It offers better color consistency, thus allowing manufacturers to easily control and manage the opacity and transparency of the final products. Masterbatch can have these advanced properties over the pigments because it is specially designed and engineered for optimal dispersion in a plastic matrix. Thus, less colorant for plastic is required during the processing, helping producers to gain more profits. Moreover, plastic product manufacturers are able to reduce their work since the tasks of research, trial, and fixing errors are now eliminated. Why can these happen? It’s because the masterbatch manufacturers have taken the responsibility for developing products with standards on color, properties, and appearance.

5. Masterbatch is preferred since it gives final products with superior properties

Last but not least, we cannot deny the fact that masterbatch seems to be able in giving various additional values to the final products over the primary plastic since it contains functional additives concentrates that deliver advantageous characteristics such as anti-UV, anti-blocking, flame retardant, antioxidants, optical brightening, smoother surface, etc. Thanks to these added properties, the quality of final products is elevated while their prices are reduced and more attractive to the customers.