Enhancement of the light-scattering ability of coatings by using hollow pigments

The light-scattering properties of coatings based on monodisperse polymeric spheres of two different diameters (ca 0.5 and 1 m) were evaluated from reflectance measurements as a function of the wavelength from 400 to 700 nm. Some of these plastic pigments were hollow and it was noted that these particles gave coatings with a greater light-scattering ability than coatings based on solid particles of a similar size. It was possible to estimate the contribution of the internal pores to the scattering ability of the coating layers by saturating the layers with an oil of a refractive index similar to that of the polymeric pigment particles. A simple model accounting for the scattering provided by the internal pores of the hollow particles is suggested. The agreement between the experimental results and the prediction of the model is fair. It was noted that the light scattering coefficient of the coatings increased when the external diameter of their constituent hollow particles increased from ca 0.5 to 1 m.