Recent Developments in Kaolin-Based Paper Coating Pigments : Innovating to Meet Changing Industry Needs

Kaolin has long been used in aqueous coatings to produce high-quality coated paper products. While the kaolin industry hat always focused on innovation. the rate of new product introduction hat never been greater than in the past five-to-eight years due to the cost, quality and other competitive pressure facing papermakers. After summarizing many of the performance benefits offered by the new generation of kaolin-baled pigments. this paper reviews four specific pigment advances: a high-performance. ultrafine glossing pigment; an engineered pigment with a narrow particle size distribution; two products from a kaolin-based pigment family developed for metered size presses ; and a novel class of inkjet pigments.