• Ciba® XYMARA™ Marker Luminescent Pigments
• Markers in XYMARA.com Materials channel

When is a mark not a mark? When you have the choice to make it visible or invisible – at will.

Ciba^® XYMARA™ Marker pigments, when correctly applied, are entirely invisible under normal lighting conditions.  Yet when exposed to ultraviolet light, they glow intensely in colors that catch the eye immediately.  The effect transforms printed material, paints, plastics – anything that can be colored or coated.

The applications for such a technology are nearly limitless.  In printing, it offers an additional method of brand protection:  packaging can be printed with an invisible security design that reveals itself only when illuminated with an inexpensive UV “black light”.  In stock control, UV fluorescent printing can clearly reveal vital information such as batch numbers or product sources without interfering with the consumer package design.  Commercial printers can use XYMARA™ Marker pigments to apply invisible, precise registration and crop markings directly on the image, greatly reducing wasted paper.

XYMARA™ Marker pigments have a very small particle size – between 3 and 5 microns.  They are inorganic, which means their fluorescent effect is durable:  they do not migrate through the material to which they are applied and they do not break down under strong sunlight, unlike conventional, organic fluorescent pigments.  This allows them to be applied precisely where they are wanted, in the confidence that they will stay put, unseen but always ready to reveal themselves under the right illumination.

The colors – green, blue, ice blue, turquoise – at which the pigments fluoresce all generate a strong visual signal; in fact, the turquoise shade is the color to which the human eye is most sensitive.  This gives them a valuable role in process control and automation.  For example, transparent substances like varnish or adhesive can often be difficult to inspect and ensure they are spread evenly over the whole object to be coated.  With addition of a XYMARA™ Marker pigment, however, the coating will glow strongly under UV light, revealing any gaps.  The strength of the glow can be used to measure and control the thickness of the coating – a valuable feature for automated spraying or gluing processes. In factories and other industrial environments, fluorescent markers can quickly reveal any leaks of oil or refrigerants:  even the slightest drip will glow.  All these processes can be manual or automated; and they require only inexpensive UV lamps or optical sensors.

Wood can be marked with its source or quality at the beginning of the processing stage – invisibly, without interfering with the final finish.  Letters and other mail can be printed with machine-readable sorting instructions.  Plastics can be color-coded by type at the moment of extrusion, so that even a fragment will reveal its nature – a vital aid when it comes to recycling.  Seeds for agriculture can be marked invisibly, which helps protect the brand – but will glow under UV, which will show whether they are properly distributed during planting.

XYMARA™ Marker pigments are decorative as well as functional; lit even by a small LED, they give an attractive, cool glow to consumer objects and environments, from control panels, displays and electronic devices to plastic flooring and fittings for kitchens and bathrooms.  Their use goes beyond simple accents and indicators:  it is possible to paint, print or extrude entire images that only reveal themselves when the “black light” is turned on.  And because the effect is durable and light-fast, it can be used outdoors as well.  Exterior plastics and paints can glow on demand:  whole stadia can be transformed into an architectural light show – or, more simply, can have permanent glowing safety or crowd control markings.  Restaurants and clubs can have sophisticated, complex lighting effects built right into the environment:  a luminous ice blue floor, green seating, complex blue and turquoise paint patterns.  The only limit is the imagination.

XYMARA™ Marker pigments are easy to use in most printing, coating and plastic production environments, behaving much like the familiar titanium dioxide white pigment.  They disperse easily and perform well at a concentration of 0.35g/m².  The only caution in their use is to avoid actually destroying the pigment particles through over-fine milling, high pressures or ultrasound, since this would degrade the fluorescent effect.

For more information about Ciba^® XYMARA™ Marker pigments please contact the Global Sales Support Team.

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