DPP Organic Pigments Have Bright Market Prospect

By Shen Yongjia

DPP (diketopyrrolo (3,4-c) pyrrole) organic pigments are high-performance organic pigments with brand new structure developed by Ciba Specialty Chemicals. The birth of such pigments is famed as a new milestone in the development history of organic pigments. DPP organic pigments have bright color, great dyeing power and are extensively used in blending of industrial paints, especially original finishing and touch-up paints for automobiles. It is also used in the inks blending and plastics coloring. Due to the intellectual protection right before 2003, only Ciba Specialty Chemicals could produce and sell these particular pigments. The total capacity of DPP organic pigments in the company has reached 4 thousand t/a and 7 varieties have already started commercial production, they included C.I. pigment orange 71, C.I. pigment orange 73, C.I. pigment red 254, C.I. pigment red 255, C.I. pigment red 264, C.I. pigment red 270 and C.I. pigment red 272. Red organic pigments at the same grade with DPP organic pigments include perylene red pigments (typical varieties: C.I. pigment red 149 and C.I. pigment red 179), red benzimidazolone pigments (typical varieties: C.I. pigment red 176 and C.I. pigment red 185) and quinacridone pigments (typical varieties: C.I. pigment red 122 and C.I. pigment purple 19). Varieties at a lower grade include red azotic coupling component pigments (typical varieties: C.I. pigment red 112, C.I. pigment red 146 and C.I. pigment red 170). Compared with these red pigments, the production process for DPP organic pigments is clean due to the followings:      (1) there are few raw material varieties and only dialkyl succinate, aromatic nitrile, solvent metal sodium, methanol and concentrated sulfuric acid are needed.      (2) the reaction yield is high, solvent used in the reaction is recovered and zero discharge can be easily achieved.    The patent protection period for DPP organic pigments was terminated in 2003 and C.I. pigment red 254 has already been developed by Chinese enterprises and started to sell in the market. By the end of 2005, 5 enterprises in China produced C.I. pigment red 254, but the capacity of each producer was less than 100 t/a. The output was also quite small and the product was mainly for export.   The major application of DPP organic pigments is the blending of industrial paints, especially original finishing paints and touch-up paints for automobiles. Original finishing paints used in the automobile industry in China are mainly imported. The consumption of DPP organic pigments in the automobile industry is therefore quite limited. DPP organic pigments produced in China are mainly used in the inks blending or plastics coloring.   The selling price of C.I. pigment red 264 in the international market is very high. Despite the termination of the patent protection period, no domestic enterprises produce such variety due to the followings:     (1) There is no production of main raw material 4-cyanobiphenyl in China.     (2) The reaction yield is too low if the C.I. pigment red 264 production uses the same process as the one used in the C.I. pigment red 254 production.    Environmental conservation has drawn increase attention nowadays. The replacement of pigments without a good environmental friendliness by DPP organic pigments conforms to the orientation of the social development. Many countries are trying to use DPP organic pigments to replace pigments with serious pollution in the production. The property-price ratio of DPP organic pigments is high. The price of C.I. pigment red 254 in the domestic market is around RMB300 per kg. Pigments in a state of "mixed crystal" or "solid solution" prepared by the blending of C.I. pigment red 254 and red azo pigments can improve the quality and indirectly reduce the output of red azo pigments, therefore, attain the purpose of minimizing environmental pollution. According to the experts' projection, as DPP organic pigments have good environmental friendliness and high property-price ratio, the consumption of DPP organic pigments in China will increase from 2 thousand tons at present to around 7 thousand tons in 2010.　　Although the method for the DPP organic pigment production is simple, it is not easy to completely remove carcinogenic impurities that contained in products. A certificate for not containing carcinogenic impurities in products must be presented for DPP organic pigments in order to enter the EU market. The cost is high and the process is long. It is one of the reasons why there were limited large organic pigment producers in the world that had accessed to the DPP organic pigment sector since 2003. Owing to the optimistic projection made to the production and application prospect, 5 enterprises in China started the production of DPP organic pigments in short-term. The lack of safety certificates for the sales of DPP organic pigments in advanced countries and regions such as the EU member states is a great worry for Chinese enterprises. In case the output and the sales amount have reached a considerable scale, the enterprises would suffer a great loss if the products have to be withdrawal from the market due to the lack of safety certificates.