The invention relates to coated effect pigments, wherein the coating comprises a binder which is suitable for powder paints. They comprise a crystalline and an amorphous fraction which is determined by C.sup.13 NMR MAS relaxation measurements, the relaxation of the .sup.13C cores being fitted as a biexponential relaxation according to the formula (II) and the degree of crystallinity c being in a range between 40 to 85%, and relaxation having a short average relaxation time T.sub.1.sup.S and a long average relaxation time T.sub.1.sup.l, and T.sub.1.sup.l being in a range of from 65 to 130 s. The effect pigments coated according to the invention have at least one endothermic peak with a maximum from a range of T.sub.max=100 to 150° C. and an enthalpy ΔH associated with said peak from a range of 15 J/g to 80 J/g in DSC at a feed speed of 5° C./min, the enthalpy being calculated relative to the amount of the binder. The binders are applied to the effect pigment by way of spontaneous precipitation.

A black aluminum pigment comprises a flaky aluminum particle; and a coating film that covers the aluminum particle, the coating film comprises a titanium oxide layer and an amorphous silicon compound layer, the titanium oxide layer has a composition that satisfies TiO.sub.x (0.50≤x≤1.90), and the amorphous silicon compound layer is composed of at least one of silicon oxide, silicon hydroxide, and silicon hydrate.

A composite pigment containing a substrate particle and a pigment layer arranged on a surface of the substrate particle, wherein the pigment layer contains a pigment, a resin and a metal oxide, and the metal oxide contains at least one selected from the group consisting of a silicon oxide, a polysiloxane, and composites thereof.

The invention relates to coated effect pigments, wherein the coating comprises a binder which is suitable for powder paints. They comprise a crystalline and an amorphous fraction which is determined by C.sup.13 NMR MAS relaxation measurements, the relaxation of the .sup.13C cores being fitted as a biexponential relaxation according to the formula (II) and the degree of crystallinity c being in a range between 40 to 85%, and relaxation having a short average relaxation time T.sub.1.sup.s and a long average relaxation time T.sub.1.sup.l, and T.sub.1.sup.l being in a range of from 65 to 130 s. The effect pigments coated according to the invention have at least one endothermic peak with a maximum from a range of T.sub.max=100 to 150° C. and an enthalpy ΔH associated with said peak from a range of 15 J/g to 80 J/g in DSC at a feed speed of 5° C./min, the enthalpy being calculated relative to the amount of the binder. The binders are applied to the effect pigment by way of spontaneous precipitation.

The invention provides a method for applying a new form of protective coating to substrates such as pigments, and also the coated substrates obtainable by this method. The coating are characterized by the fact that they impart good chemical resistivity to the substrate whilst also preserving its optical properties.

The invention relates to a surface-modified effect pigment comprising particular additives and to the production thereof. The present invention further provides a nail varnish composition comprising a) at least one effect pigment that has been surface-modified with a starting material (additive), where the effect pigment comprises a substrate in platelet form and optionally at least one coating applied to the substrate, b) at least one hydrocarbon resin as binder, and c) at least one solvent or solvent mixture, where the starting material (additive) for surface modification of the effect pigment is at least one compound taken from the group consisting of phosphoric ester-containing, phosphonic ester-containing, phosphonic acid-containing, fatty acid-containing and/or silane-containing compounds or mixtures thereof.

The invention relates to a surface-modified effect pigment comprising particular additives and to the production thereof. The present invention further provides a nail varnish composition comprising a) at least one effect pigment that has been surface-modified with a starting material (additive), where the effect pigment comprises a substrate in platelet form and optionally at least one coating applied to the substrate, b) at least one hydrocarbon resin as binder, and c) at least one solvent or solvent mixture, where the starting material (additive) for surface modification of the effect pigment is at least one compound taken from the group consisting of phosphoric ester-containing, phosphonic ester-containing, phosphonic acid-containing, fatty acid-containing and/or silane-containing compounds or mixtures thereof.

The invention is directed to electrically conductive particles comprising a metallic core, a dielectric layer encapsulating said metallic core, and a silver containing outer-layer, wherein said metallic core comprises or consists of elemental metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, iron, nickel, zinc, and alloys, and mixtures thereof, said dielectric layer comprises at least one metal oxide selected from the group consisting of the group consisting of silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, tin oxide, organic polymer, and mixtures thereof, wherein said silver containing layer is a continuous and opaque layer, wherein a silver ion coordinating layer is arranged between said dielectric layer and said silver containing layer and, optionally a further outer surface modification layer in amount of 0 to 3 wt.-%, based on the total weight of the electrically conductive particles. The invention is also directed to a composition and an article comprising the electrically conductive particles as well as to a method for producing said electrically conductive particles.

The invention is directed to a plate-like PVD aluminum pigment with a protective encapsulation, wherein said protective encapsulation comprises a) a continuous encapsulating silicon oxide containing coating (a), wherein said silicon oxide containing coating comprises at least 60 wt.-% silicon oxide, based on the total weight of said silicon oxide containing coating, and b) a layer (b) of metal oxide, wherein said metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of molybdenum oxide, molybdenum hydroxide, molybdenum oxide hydrate, tungsten oxide, tungsten hydroxide, tungsten oxide hydrate and mixtures thereof, and c) optionally an outer organic-chemical modification layer. The invention is further directed to method for producing the plate-like metal pigment as well as the use thereof.

A main object of the present invention to provide a coated pigment that is composed of a composite particle comprising a silicon compound coated on the surface of a metal particle, and that can be dispersed with relatively few aggregates. The present invention relates to a coated pigment comprising a composite particle containing a metal particle and one or two or more coating layers on the surface of the metal particle, wherein (1) at least one of the coating layers is a silicon compound-containing layer, and (2) the proportion of aggregates formed by adhesion of at least four of the composite particles with each other is not more than 35% by number.