Editorial

Citation

(2003), "Editorial", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 32 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.2003.12932caa.001

Editorial

It is well known that colorants, such as pigments, have found applications in coatings, inks and glaze etc. It is, therefore, of little surprise that much has been published on the application of pigments. On the other hand, less published are the investigations into the novel approaches to the preparation of pigments aimed at improving specific properties. This issue contains several interesting papers on the preparation and characterisation of pigments.

Krysztafkiewicz and co-workers investigated the feasibility of preparing pigments by the adsorption of organic dyes onto the surface of amorphous silica that was modified with silane coupling agents. It was found that the pigments thus prepared had good particle size characteristics and colour strength.

My colleagues from the Iran Centre for Colour Research take us into the colourful world of pigments for glazing through their paper entitled "Synthesis and characterisation of chromium oxide as a pigment for high temperature application". Readers may be interested to know that there are currently a significant number of research activities within the Iran Centre for Colour Research following a recent funding from the Iranian government. It is therefore very likely that this journal will see more publications updating the future research outcomes from the Iran Centre for Colour Research.

In their paper entitled "The effects of the mode of preparation on the anticorrosion properties of Ca-Zn and Mg-Zn borophosphates", Mošner etc. reported the synthesis, application and characterisation of a series of borophosphate pigments. Such an investigation was motivated by the need for the development of anticorrosive pigments to replace the more toxic lead and chromium (Cr^VI) based anticorrosive pigments. It was found that the anticorrosion property of the borophosphate pigments prepared was significantly dependent on both the composition of the pigments and the route of synthesis. An interesting conclusion made by Mošner etc. was that the solubility of the pigments prepared had a significant dependence on the temperature regime that the pigment experienced during the process of preparation, resulting in pigments of varied corrosion inhibition capabilities.

The last contributed paper in this issue is relevant to a somewhat different field of science and technology. In areas where forest resource is not abundant, investigation into the use of alternative sources of paper pulp becomes of considerable practical significance. Abd El-Sayed and Basta (an old colleague of mine having many years of experience in paper research and well-published) reported the effects of magnesium chloride on properties of wood and non-wood fibrous paper sheets treated with sodium silicate. In particular, the effects of magnesium chloride and of sodium silicate on the paper properties such as the breaking length, the tear factor, the burst factor, the brightness, the opacity and the fire retardency were investigated and reported.

I hope that the above has served its purpose of providing a brief introduction to the contributed papers within this issue and thus encouraging you to read through those of your interest.