What Masterbatch Families Are There, and How Do You Identify the Right One for Your Part?

The order of green harvest crates for an agricultural grower was approved in a single afternoon: the shade matched the reference, the part came out of the injection molding machine clean and the concentrate cost less than the previous supplier's. The purchase order said only "green masterbatch for PP", and it was filled that way for the entire season. A few months later, the customer returned the first crates: the green had turned whitish on the faces exposed to the sun, and several crates cracked when stacked full. The part needed a color concentrate with ultraviolet protection, and the order asked only for the color. The outcome was the replacement of several lots of crates and a customer who was already requesting quotes from another processor.

The main masterbatch families are color, white, black, functional additives and special effects. The right one for your part is identified by crossing three pieces of information: the resin, the conversion process and the end use.

The cost of ordering a masterbatch by its color and overlooking the part

In a quote, the word masterbatch covers products that do very different jobs. They all share the same form: a pellet with a high loading of pigment, additive or both, encapsulated in a carrier resin. What changes from one family to another is the function of the concentrate within the part: providing a shade, covering and opacifying, protecting against the sun, correcting a process defect or creating a visual effect.

The opening case shows the most frequent purchasing error: specifying the concentrate by its color and leaving out what the part will go through after it leaves the machine. The shade is approved in minutes; service requirements, such as sunlight, food contact or the odor of recycled material, appear months later, when the lot is already in the hands of the end customer.

Function before shade: the criterion that organizes the families

Masterbatch families are usually grouped by the main function of the concentrate. Under that criterion, the families we work with at Delta Pigmentos fall into five groups: color masterbatch, white masterbatch, black masterbatch, additive or functional masterbatch and special effects masterbatch. The market also offers filler masterbatch, with minerals such as calcium carbonate or talc, which is used to add stiffness and reduce virgin resin consumption. Many parts need two families at once, and the right formula combines them in a single pellet.

Color, white and black: three families that behave differently in the machine

All three provide color, and each one follows its own logic of pigment, loading and dosing.

Color masterbatch: standard line shade or custom development

It is formulated with organic pigments, which provide brightness and tinting strength, with inorganic pigments, which provide opacity and resistance to heat and light, or with a combination of both. Within this family, it is useful to distinguish solid shades, which cover, from translucent shades, which let the contents of the package show through. Our Basic Color Line includes 30 masterbatches for HDPE, LDPE and PP, with translucent shades, a series of solids and three shades from the biodegradable line. When the shade is a brand color, we develop it to order, and to date we have developed more than 6,000 colors.

White and black: opacity, coverage and protection

White masterbatch is formulated with titanium dioxide and is used to provide opacity, cover the base shade of the resin or serve as a background for a light color. Its performance depends on the pigment loading and on the dispersion. Our PE White Masterbatch reaches up to 70% pigment concentration, is free of heavy metals and comes in formulations that comply with NOM standards and FDA CFR regulations. Black masterbatch is generally formulated with carbon black, which, in addition to color, provides total opacity and natural protection against ultraviolet radiation. Both have a version in the Basic Color Line, recommended for food contact in both cases.

Functional families: when the failure appears months after the shade is approved

Additive, or functional, masterbatch is dosed in small amounts and corrects what the resin alone leaves unresolved: how it runs in the machine, how the part looks and how long it lasts in service. It is the family that was missing from the crates in the opening case.

Functional concentrates tailored to each requirement

At Delta Pigmentos, we formulate additive concentrates according to the polymer, the process and the function the customer needs. These are the families in our catalog:

• Ultraviolet protection: extends the service life of parts exposed to sunlight and the weather.

• Antibacterial AG: nanoparticles that reduce bacterial growth; complies with JIS Z 2801 and ISO 22196.

• Desiccants: absorb moisture from the material during processing and reduce surface defects in the part.

• UV markers: invisible to the naked eye, they are used to authenticate and trace finished products.

• Delta Bio: an oxo-biodegradable additive that accelerates the breakdown of the polymer in stages down to compostable residues.

• MB Aroma: incorporates a fragrance into the product and reduces unwanted odors from the reprocessing of recycled materials.

• Biocide and repellent: protects the polymer in applications that require microbiological control or repellency.

Color and function in a single pellet

When the part needs color and function, the usual approach is to formulate a single concentrate that carries both in the same dosing. The plant loads a single product, and the risk of a shift forgetting the second concentrate disappears. The condition is that the laboratory knows the end use from the start, because the additive and the pigment must coexist in the same carrier resin. For the harvest crates, a green formulated with ultraviolet protection would have met the real requirement of the part from the very first sample.

Special effects and high concentration: families that call for their own process conditions

Some parts compete on the store shelf, and others need to be colored with the lowest possible dosing. For them, there are families with special pigments or formats.

Fluorescent and pearlescent: differentiation on the shelf

Fluorescent masterbatches provide high-luminosity shades, and pearlescent masterbatches provide a nacreous luster that changes with the viewing angle. Pearlescent pigments are platelet-shaped particles that align with the flow; excessive shear can break them and dull the effect. Fluorescent pigments are sensitive to light and should be evaluated carefully in outdoor parts. In both families, the trial on the customer's machine carries more weight than the laboratory plaque.

Encapsulated and high-concentration grades: more color per kilogram dosed

Deltabatch, our line of pigments encapsulated in polymeric resin at high concentrations, achieves solid and translucent shades with low dosing. High-concentration masterbatches follow the same logic: greater tinting strength with lower dosing per kilogram of resin. Whether they are worthwhile is confirmed by the cost per colored part.

Three filters to identify the family your part requires

The choice comes down to three questions that are best answered in writing before requesting a quote: the resin and the process define which concentrates are viable, and the end use decides which one is right.

Resin: the carrier must be compatible with your polymer

The carrier must melt and blend with the polymer of the part. For polyolefins such as HDPE, LDPE and PP, the carrier usually belongs to the same family, and our Basic Color Line covers those three polymers. In engineering plastics such as nylon, polycarbonate or ABS, the concentrate is developed specifically for the resin, because an incompatible carrier can cause delamination, streaks and loss of mechanical properties.

Process: temperature, shear and wall thickness

The Basic Color Line is formulated for injection molding, film extrusion, extrusion blow molding and compression molding, with a processing range of 150 °C to 250 °C; above that range, the temperature can degrade an organic pigment and shift the shade. A thin film requires very fine dispersion, because any agglomerate becomes visible, and a thick-walled part requires a different pigment loading for the same shade. Rotational molding and thermoforming have their own requirements, which are reviewed during development.

End use: outdoor exposure, food, recycled resin and the store shelf

The end use is the filter most often omitted, and it is the one that decides the family. Each service condition points to a specific family or combination:

• Sun exposure: color with ultraviolet protection, or black when the design of the part allows it.

• Food contact: pigments listed for that use, such as the masterbatches in our line recommended under FDA 21 CFR 178.3297.

• Recycled resin: white or black to cover the base shade, and aroma when reprocessing leaves odors.

• Differentiation on the shelf: fluorescent or pearlescent, validated on the customer's machine.

• Hygiene or traceability: antibacterial, biocide or UV markers, depending on the requirement.

• Packaging where the contents must be visible: translucent shades or low-dosing encapsulated grades.

If the part combines two conditions, such as a colored agricultural crate that will spend months in the sun, the answer is usually a combined concentrate.

How we define the right family at Delta Pigmentos

In our Quality Control, Design and Development laboratory, the concentrate family is defined from the data of the part. You send us your shade reference (Pantone code, physical sample or photograph), the polymer, the process and the end use, and we propose the product with its concentration, recommended process, price and delivery time. You validate the sample on your own machine and, once the shade is approved, we produce it under ISO 9001-2015 certified procedures and ship it anywhere in the country from Santa Anita, Jalisco.

A development color takes 10 days from sample approval, with a minimum order of 100 kg. Special lines and functional concentrates are quoted with their own technical proposal.

Frequently asked questions

Can a single masterbatch provide both color and ultraviolet protection?

Yes. We formulate concentrates that carry the color and the additive in the same dosing. The actual protection depends on wall thickness, color and exposure, which is why it is sized for each application and validated before committing volume.

Which family is best if the part is made with recycled resin?

It depends on the base shade of the recycled material. White and black cover a variable base shade better, light colors usually require a higher loading, and MB Aroma reduces odors from reprocessing. It is advisable to develop the concentrate on the actual recycled resin.

Is the Basic Line masterbatch suitable for engineering plastics?

The Basic Color Line is formulated for HDPE, LDPE and PP. For nylon, polycarbonate, ABS or other engineering plastics, we develop the concentrate specifically for the resin, with a compatible carrier and pigments that withstand its processing temperature.

At Delta Pigmentos we have been manufacturing color, white, black, functional and special line masterbatches in our own plant for 24 years, with our own laboratory and ISO 9001-2015 certified procedures. If you are about to launch a new part, or you suspect that the concentrate you use today meets the shade but leaves out a service requirement, write to us on WhatsApp from https://deltapigmentos.com with your polymer, your process, your shade reference and the end use of the part; we will respond with a technical proposal. Every request is reviewed within the following 24 business hours.