The invention relates to effect pigments comprising artificial platelet-shaped substrates which have at least one optically active coating, where the effect pigments have a volume-averaged cumulative undersize distribution curve with the characteristic numbers D.sub.10, D.sub.50 and D.sub.90, said cumulative undersize distribution curve having a span ΔD of 0.7-1.4, and the span ΔD being calculated in accordance with formula (I):
ΔD=(D.sub.90−D.sub.10)/D.sub.50  (I),
and the average thickness of the artificial platelet-shaped substrates being 500 nm to 2000 nm.

Provided is an infrared-reflective coating composition that includes: a scale-like infrared-reflective pigment; and a resin component, wherein the pigment includes a layered body that has dielectric layers and a metal thin film layer layered in an alternate fashion with the dielectric layer on the outermost layer; the dielectric layer is formed from one or more materials such as titanium dioxide; the metal thin film layer is formed from a silver compound; a film thickness of the metal thin film layer is 5 to 15 nm; a film thickness of the dielectric layer is ((Nλ)/(4r))±20 nm (N=1, 2 or 3) wherein wavelength λ of incident light is 250 to 980 nm, and r is a refractive index of the dielectric layer; and a proportion of the infrared-reflective pigment having a particle diameter of 1 μm or smaller is 10% by volume or smaller.

A multilayer thin film structure having a reflective core particle, a dielectric layer directly encapsulating the reflective core particle, an absorber layer directly encapsulating the dielectric layer; an outer layer encapsulating the absorber layer. The multilayer thin film structure has a hue shift of less than 30° in the Lab color space when viewed at angles from 0° to 45°.

An article includes at least one layer including a transparent portion and at least one metal portion; and a color-rendering layer; wherein the at least one metal portion is positioned in the article to provide reflection of incident light; and wherein the transparent portion is dimensioned to allow at least some incident light to pass through. A method of making an article is also disclosed.

An asymmetric pigment including a first Fabry-Perot structure; and a second Fabry-Perot structure; wherein the first Fabry-Perot structure and the second Fabry-Perot structure have a similar hue angle within +/−45 degrees is disclosed. Other asymmetric pigments are also disclosed as well as methods of making the disclosed pigments.

A composition including a first color shifting pigment flake population having a first D50 particle size; and a second color shifting pigment flake population having a second D50 particle size that is different from the first D50 particle size, wherein the first color shifting pigment flake population and the second color shifting pigment flake population have a similar face color and color shift is disclosed. An article including the composition is included. A method of making the composition and a method of making the article are also disclosed.

A method for forming a multilayer thin film structure includes directly depositing an absorber layer to encapsulate a dielectric layer, and the dielectric layer encapsulates a reflective core particle. The method further including depositing an outer layer to encapsulate the absorber layer, and the multilayer thin film structure has a hue shift of less than 30° in the Lab color space when viewed at angles from 0° to 45°.

A composition including a dual cavity color shirting pigment and a single cavity color shifting pigment is disclosed. A method of making the composition is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to gold-colored effect pigment including a nonmetallic substrate in platelet form and a coating applied thereto, wherein the coating includes at least one spacer layer. The invention further relates to a process for production of and to the use of the gold-colored effect pigment.

The invention relates to a transparent effect pigment which includes a non-metallic platelet-shaped substrate and a coating applied thereto, wherein the coating has a spacer layer. The invention further relates to a method for the production, as well as the use, of the transparent effect pigment.