Providing a white pigment dispersion that shows good storage stability because the white pigment contained therein is less likely to sediment, an ink composition comprising the white pigment dispersion, and a method of image formation using the ink composition. A white pigment dispersion comprising at least a specified white pigment, a polymeric dispersant, and an aqueous liquid as a solvent or dispersion medium, wherein; the specified white pigment is a titanium dioxide that has been surface-treated with at least alumina, the polymeric dispersant has a structure with a principal chain having a pigment adsorption group and a water-soluble molecular chain grafted to the principal chain, the overall weight-average molecular weight of the polymeric dispersant is in the range of 2000 to 50000, the weight-average molecular weight of the graft chain is in the range of 150 to 3000, and the difference between the lightness value L of the coating film from the pre-centrifugation white pigment dispersion and the lightness value L of the coating film from the post-centrifugation supernatant liquid is less than 25.

A wetting agent according to Formula (I):

##STR00001## wherein R.sup.1 is selected from a branched alkyl group or linear alkyl group or a cycloaliphatic group or an aromatic group, each having 6 to 15 carbon atoms; R.sup.2 is selected from hydrogen, methyl, or ethyl; R.sup.3 is selected from hydrogen, methyl, or ethyl; R.sup.4 is selected from hydrogen, methyl, or ethyl; R.sup.5 is selected from methyl or ethyl; x ranges from 0 to 5; y ranges from 0 to 10; z ranges from 1 to 10; with the proviso that when x ranges from 1 to 5, R.sup.2 is different from R.sup.3; and with the proviso that when x=0, R.sup.3 is different from R.sup.4. The wetting agent also imparts anti-foam properties to aqueous solutions while reducing surface tension.

The invention relates to an adhesion promotor for improving adhesion on a substrate surface of an RMA crosslink able composition comprising one or more crosslinkable components comprising a reactive component A with at least two acidic protons C—H in activated methylene or methine groups, a reactive component B with at least two activated unsaturated C═C groups, a catalyst C for catalyzing the RMA crosslinking reaction between components A and B, said adhesion promotor P comprising a moiety comprising one or more functional groups X or precursors thereof readable with component A or component B and a moiety comprising one or more functional groups Y or precursors thereof that adsorb or react with the substrate surface not being an alkoxysilane group. The invention also relates to a RMA crosslinkable composition, also in the form of a kit of parts, to a premix for use as a part in the kit of parts.

A branched polycarboxylic acid or salt thereof, wherein the average number of branches is (2) to (100) and the average degree of polymerization of the branches is (2) to (50), is an effective polymeric dispersant. More specifically, the polymeric dispersant is a branched polycarboxylic acid or salt thereof, in which the branched polycarboxylic acid is derived from polymerization of (meth)acrylic acid; the average degree of polymerization is (10) to (150); the average number of branches is (2) to (20); and the average degree of polymerization of the branches is (2) to (30). The branched polycarboxylic acid or salt thereof can be combined with a pigment to form an aqueous dispersion. An aqueous coating composition includes the aqueous dispersion; a polymeric binder; and a rheology modifier.

An active energy curable white ink composition contains a nitrogen atom-containing monofunctional monomer (A), a nitrogen atom-free monofunctional monomer (B) having a glass transition temperature of 15 degrees or higher, a polyfunctional monomer (C), a polymerizable oligomer (D), an acylphosphine oxide-based polymerization initiator (E), and a white pigment (F), wherein the proportion of (D) in the active energy curable white ink composition is 0.2% by mass or less, the proportion of (E) in the active energy curable white ink composition is from 6% to 10% by mass, and the proportion of (F) in the active energy curable white ink composition is from 12% to 17% by mass.

Provided are a multilayer coating film with pearl luster that is bright in highlight and that has a small change in graininess due to difference in observation directions, and a method for forming the multilayer coating film. The multilayer coating film contains on a substrate in the following sequence a color-pigment-containing colored base coating film, an interference-pigment-containing effect base coating film, and a clear-coat coating film. The multilayer coating film has a Y value (Y5) in the XYZ color space of 300 or more. The multilayer coating film has a ratio of a 15° sparkle area Sa to a 45° sparkle area Sa of 7 or less.

The present invention relates to a polymeric dispersant containing an tertiary amide linkage between the aromatic anchoring group and a solubilizing chain, and a composition containing a particulate solid, an aqueous or polar organic medium, and a polymeric aromatic amide dispersant having at least one tertiary amide linking group connecting through a carbonyl group of the amide to an aromatic ring having two or more residual carboxylic acid groups or a sulfonic acid group and a residual carboxylic acidic group thereon. The invention further provides compositions for millbases, dispersions, coatings and inks containing said dispersant.

The present invention aims to provide a method of producing a fine particulate inorganic oxide dispersion, which makes it possible to easily disperse a fine particulate inorganic oxide while reducing the amount of dispersant used. The present invention relates to a method of producing a fine particulate inorganic oxide dispersion, the method including mixing the following components (A) to (D): (A) at least one fine particulate inorganic oxide selected from the group consisting of zirconium oxide (ZrO.sub.2), titanium oxide (TiO.sub.2), and barium titanate (BaTiO.sub.3), (B) a dispersant, (C) an alkoxysilane compound, and (D) a solvent having the following Hansen solubility parameters: a hydrogen bonding component (dH) of 11 or less and a polar component (dP) of 4 or more; and wet grinding the resulting mixture.

Cathodically depositable electrocoat materials comprising basic bismuth nitrate, further comprising at least one binder having reactive functional groups and at least one crosslinker containing the complementary reactive functional groups which are able to enter into thermal crosslinking reactions.

A method for increasing a detection distance of a surface of an object illuminated by near-IR electromagnetic radiation, including: (a) directing near-IR electromagnetic radiation from a near-IR electromagnetic radiation source towards an object at least partially coated with a near-IR reflective coating that increases a near-IR electromagnetic radiation detection distance by at least 15% as measured at a wavelength in a near-IR range as compared to the same object coated with a color matched coating which absorbs more of the same near-IR radiation, where the color matched coating has a ΔE color matched value of 1.5 or less when compared to the near-IR reflective coating; and (b) detecting reflected near-IR electromagnetic radiation reflected from the near-IR reflective coating. A system for detecting proximity of vehicles is also disclosed.