Green Science Alliance Invented a New Colored Powder and Coloring Material Combined With Glass Components (Silica) That Can Be Easily Removed From Hands
- Green Science Alliance has successfully developed a new material combining and compositing colorants (organic pigments, dyes, and fluorescent dyes) with silica (SiO₂: the main component of glass)
- The approximate weight ratio of colorants : silica = 1:９. In other words, silica is the primary component, and you can imagine colorants trapped inside dense, non-porous silica spheres (glass beads).
- Although this newly developed colorant appears to be an ordinary powder, it is encapsulated in silica—the main component of glass. As a result, it can be easily washed off without leaving stains on your hands.
- This technology makes it possible to simultaneously impart the excellent durability, weather resistance, heat resistance, and dispersibility of silica—an inorganic material—while maintaining the vivid colors of organic pigments, dyes, fluorescent dyes, quantum dots, and the like
KAWANISHI, Japan, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Mr. Hirohisa Iwabayashi (Ph.D. student) at Green Science Alliance has successfully developed a new material combining and compositing colorants (organic pigments, dyes, and fluorescent dyes) with silica (SiO2: the main component of glass). This new material is a novel colorant that combines colorants (organic pigments, dyes, and fluorescent dyes) within a dense silica structure. There have been studies on combining colorants with silica before. However, most of them just coated the colorant surface with silica. Therefore, the approximate weight ratio of colorants : silica was 1:９. In other words, main component was the colorant. As a result, this hybridization did not significantly improve the actual durability of the colorants. In contract, the approximate weight ratio of colorants: silica of our products is 9:1. In other words, main component of our developed products is the silica, like coloring material, colorants are trapped inside a glass sphere.
Since the coloring agents are encapsulated within dense, non-porous silica spheres without any holes (pores), the color inside will not leak out. Therefore, even if it gets on your palms, it will not penetrate your skin or mix with skin oils. You can easily remove the color just by dusting your hands off or lightly washing them with water. Therefore, this is an innovative color material (color powder) that has never existed in the traditional color industry
Features.
- Improvement in durability, weather resistance, and light resistance
The coloring material is embedded in dense silica (glass spheres), which prevents the penetration of oxygen, various atmospheric gas components, and moisture. This significantly reduces degradation under ultraviolet light, resulting in a substantial improvement in the durability, weather resistance, and heat resistance of the internal coloring material. - Improvement in heat resistance
With its improved heat resistance, compounding with high-melting-point resins is now possible. For example, color masterbatches can be produced by combining heat-sensitive dyes, fluorescent dyes, or azo pigments (an organic pigment) with high-melting-point resins. - Improvement in mechanical strength
Since colorants are embedded in silica, their mechanical strength in paints, resins and plastics are enhanced (scratch resistance, hardness and various types of mechanical strength). - Improvement in chemical stability
Chemical stability against acid, alkali and specific type of solvent, liquid is improved.
Application
Based on these characteristics, the following application examples are targeted.
- Paints, Coatings
- Printing Inks
- Colorant for plastics, resins
- Cosmetics
- Materials for automotive, construction
Although previous research exists on the integration of colorants and silica, the manufacturing method for the new colorant developed by Green Science Alliance stands out as scalable for mass production, cost-effective, and viable for practical use. In addition, durability (weather resistance, light resistance, heat resistance, chemical resistance, scratch resistance etc…) has been significantly improved. Therefore, this technology has the potential to provide innovative new value to the color industry as a next-generation colorant.
This research is also the result of joint research with Osaka Metropolitan University, published in the British journal "Green Chemistry" by the Royal Society of Chemistry, and featured on the front cover
Media Contact
Ryohei Mori
81-727598501
[email protected]
SOURCE Green Science Alliance Co., Ltd.
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