Hyperbranched polymers as a novel class of pigment dispersants

Hyperbranched polymers form a novel class of materials that are employed as components of resin formulations. They are appreciated for their low intrinsic viscosities, which is ascribed to their spherical shape. It was envisaged to devise pigment dispersants with hyperbranched moieties as structural elements. Commercially available hyperbranched polymers with polyester, polyesteramide and polyethylene imine backbones were chemically modified to develop a range of disperants with core- and shell-type pigment anchoring mechanisms. Both the shell- and core-type anchoring principles generally can be used for pigment dispersion and stabilisation at a low viscosity level.