Following the ban on disposable cutlery and straws made from petroleum-based plastics, biomaterials are increasingly being developed for this market. In contrast to the mostly uncolored food packaging, attractive coloring plays a major role for product differentiation. However, only a few bioplastics manufacturers offer pre-colored compounds. With liquid colors from Rowa - liquid universal carriers - all common thermoplastics can be colored.
To minimize the fossil content in the end product, Rowasol offers a special bio-carrier system based on purely vegetable raw materials. In addition, liquid colors are always manufactured at room temperature - on the one hand, this rules out thermal pre-damage and, on the other, ensures a very low energy input and CO2 footprint in production (approx. 2-4 %). To demonstrate the universal applicability of plant-based Rowasol liquid colors in biocomposites, three different thermoplastic materials of biological origin were sprayed with the same liquid colors and the same dosage (1 %). Depending on the color shade of the base material, correspondingly different color shades result. The visible surface effects are caused by the platelet geometry with 3 mm layer thickness, which is unfavorable for the materials. What they all have in common, however, is a very good and uniform coloring with a color addition of 1 %. Even with the relatively dark lignin raw material, strong color shades can be achieved via liquid coloring.