Aluminum paste orientation

April 12, 2025

Brilliance, brightness, colour saturation, coverage, flop and DOl - depend not only on particles and particle size distribution, but also on the orientation of the aluminium flakes in the paint film. Best effects are achieved when the flakes lie parallel to the surface of the film. Poor orientation :leads to"clouding" or to an uneven "salt and pepper" effect. The evaporation of the solvent causes the film t。shrink and virtually press the aluminium paste

into a horizontal position.

The higher the solvent content of the paint, the more pronounced this effect is. This explains the observed phenomenon that pigment orientation and thus the optical properties of" low solid paints"are considerabl'y better than those of high solid paints".