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This research deals with a new kind of nanopigment, obtained from the combination of organic dyes and layered nanoclays, that the authors call nanoclay‐colorant pigment (NCP). Whilst they have already been employed in inks and coatings, to date these nanopigments have not been used as pigments for polymers. The existing lack of knowledge surrounding them must be redressed in order to bridge the gap between current academic studies and commercial exploitation. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to examine the hitherto unknown aspects of the NCP, which relate specifically to their applicability as a new type of colorant for polymers.

A blue NCP has been prepared at the laboratory according to the patented method of synthesis (patent WO0104216), using methylene blue and montmorillonite nanoclay. It has then been applied to a thermoplastic polymer (linear low‐density polyethylene – LLDPE) to obtain a coloured sample. Furthermore, samples with the same polymer but using conventional blue colorants have been prepared under the same processing conditions. The mechanical, thermal and colorimetric properties of these materials have been compared.

The thermal stability of the sample coloured with NCP is reduced to some extent, while the mechanical strength is slightly increased. Moreover, this sample has better colour performance than the conventionally pigmented samples.

In this paper, a blue NCP has been synthesised and successfully employed with polyethylene and the obtained sample shows better colour performance than polyethylene with conventional pigments.

This paper aims to focus on a comparison study of the visible stability of natural blue dye consisting anthocyanin molecules extracted from Clitoria ternatea in coating films.

The coating films were prepared by mixing the blue dye with poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) in three different weight ratios. Samples were coded as 10PBA, 15PBA and 20PBA, where PBA is the abbreviation for poly acrylamide-co-acrylic acid, blue dyes and anthocyanin. The number at the beginning of each code represents the weight percentage of poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) to natural blue dye. The mixtures were applied on separate glass substrates to form coating films. Another set of samples were prepared for the comparison study with a commercial acrylic clear coat (cc) applied on the surface of the 10PBA, 15PBA and 20PBA coating films. These coating films were coded 10PBAcc, 15PBAcc and 20PBAcc. The purpose of the clear coat is to observe how it affects the colour stability of the blue coating films with respect to time. All samples were exposed to the ultraviolet (UV) source, an 18 W Philips TL-D 18w/830 UV fluorescent lamp. The UV lamp was placed 15 cm above the surface of the samples for 35 days. The colour of the coatings was measured using CIE L*a*b* colour space coordinate.

The results obtained show 10PBA and 10PBAcc have the highest colour stability after 35 days of exposure to UV light. The reflectivity of the coating films was also measured during exposure to UV lamp. Reflectivity measurements also showed that 10PBA and 10PBAcc coating films had the highest reflective stabilities.

The potential of using natural blue dye consisting anthocyanin in coating film to obtain high colour stability.

The coating film developed in this work is suitable to be applied on glass substrates.

The application of anthocyanin dye extracted from the Clitoria ternatea L. as a colourant in coating films