Optical brightener: a secret weapon to brighten colors and beautify life

In our daily lives, whether it is clothing, plastic products, paper, or detergent, we cannot do without an effect additive-optical brightener.

iSuoChem Marketing Department / Edited by Jason

What is Optical brightener?

Optical brightener (Short name: OBA) are commonly used to enhance the appearance of colors in plastics, textiles, paper, detergent, inks and coatings, producing a "whitening" and "brightening" effect; they work by compensating for the blue reflected by the material with the blue and violet light emission of fluorophores. The lack of color and violet light makes the originally yellow/orange material look less yellow/orange.

Optical brightener may sound unfamiliar, but in fact it has existed in our lives for a long time. Simply put, optical brightening agent is an organic compound that can improve the whiteness and brightness of plastic products, fiber fabrics, paper and other items. It uses the optical complementary color effect to convert the invisible ultraviolet radiation absorbed by the object into purple-blue fluorescent radiation, which is complementary to the original yellow light radiation, making the objects we see whiter and brighter.

What are other names for optical brighteners?

As far as I know, our customers usually call it optical brightening agents (OBAs), fluorescent brightening agents (FBAs), or fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs).

What is the application of optical brightener?

There are many types of Optical brighteners, which can be divided into the following categories according to different application fields:

1. Optical brightening agent for plastic: mainly used to increase the whiteness and transparency of plastic materials such as polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride, and enhance the appearance and texture of the product. Plastic application is also a popular application category in the current market. Plastic grade Optical brightener has the following biggest advantages: high brightness, high whiteness, low dosage, migration resistance, high efficiency and environmental protection, good light transmittance, excellent sunlight resistance, weather resistance, and excellent temperature resistance. Currently, the main models include Optical brighteners OB, OB-1, OB-2, FP-127, FP-128, KSN, KSN (imported), KCB, KSB, KS, KSS, DBH, WGS, EBF, PF-3, and Low-Fuorescent Brightener DA, Non-Optical brightener WA-1, No Dust Optical Brightener.

2. Optical brightening agent for textile: widely used in the dyeing and printing of cotton, wool, silk, synthetic fibers, acrylic fabrics, diacetate fibers, knitted cotton, polyester-cotton blended fabrics, and cotton-wool blended fabrics to improve the whiteness and brightness of fabrics and make clothes more colorful and eye-catching. At present, in the optical brightener market, the hot-selling codes include Optical brightener MST, 4BK, BBU, VBL, BA, BAC-H, and other special models such as Optical brightener ER-I, ER-II, ER-II, DT, EBF, BAC-L, CL, CXT, AMS, DMS.

3. Optical brightening agent for inks, coatings, and latex paints: used to increase the whiteness and brightness of paints and inks, making the coating more uniform and bright. Commonly used for whitening and brightening of solvent-based coatings, paints, latex paints and printing inks. Small dosage, high efficiency and environmental protection. Adding Optical brighteners to latex paints can significantly improve the whiteness and glossiness of the wall, making the home environment brighter and more comfortable.

4. OBA for Detergent: used in detergents, it can effectively improve the whiteness, vividness and brightness of washed clothes, which is environmentally friendly and efficient, making clothes look brand new. It is mainly used in synthetic washing powder, laundry detergent, soap, soap, laundry paste, printing and dyeing, washing and dyeing, and artificial fiber and other washing and cleaning industries. The hot-selling model is CBS-X. At present, iSuoChem® can provide CBS-X made in China, which is comparable to BASF's Tinopal® CBS-X. The same parameters and quality, more cost-effective price.

5. Paper optical brightener

Optical brightener BBU, HS, HST, BA, and VBL.

How does fluorescent whitening agent work?

The working principle of fluorescent whitening agent is not complicated. When ultraviolet rays are irradiated on items containing Optical brightener, the fluorescent whitening agent absorbs the energy of ultraviolet rays and emits a certain intensity of visible blue-purple fluorescence. This fluorescence is complementary to the original yellow light radiation of the item, thereby improving the whiteness and brightness of the item.

Safety of optical brightener

The safety of Optical brightener has always been the focus of consumer attention. In fact, the amount of fluorescent whitening agent adsorbed on the skin is very low and will not be absorbed by the human body. Various Optical brightener are basically non-irritating to the skin, and will not cause phototoxicity or photosensitivity to the human body. Of course, in order to ensure the safety of the product, we strictly abide by the relevant quality standards and safety regulations in the production and sales process.

Advantages of optical brightener

As a professional supplier of effect pigments, iSuoChem is committed to providing customers with high-quality optical brightener products. This optical brightening agents not only have excellent whitening effects, but also have good stability and environmental protection performance. We continue to develop and innovate to meet the needs of different customers for Optical brightener.