A new heat-stable soluble organic dye that can be used to permanently color nylons and other high-processing temperature engineering plastics like PC or PPS with the RAL 2003 shade of orange used in high-voltage applications, has been developed by Lanxess. Halogen-free Macrolex Orange HT, which also boasts light fastness, weather resistance and outstanding color strength and brilliance, has been shown to offer consistently high quality and high-precision coloration (dE ≤ 0.7), which is particularly important for orange shades. A color difference of dE<1 cannot usually be perceived by the human eye.

Vehicles with electric drives are naturally exposed to higher voltages and currents than combustion engines. Voltages of up to 400 V DC in the battery circuit and up to 1000 V AC in the engine circuit are possible, with AC voltages exceeding 42 V and DC voltages exceeding 60 V already considered potentially life-threatening.

This is why the live components of an electric drive are colored bright orange so that they can be quickly and easily identified. As a result, Macrolex Orange HT product helps to reduce the risk of accidents during the handling of electric motors. In addition, this colorant can also be used for other high-quality plastic products such as housings for tools and other electronic devices as well as technical plastics for vehicle parts and structural applications.

Said Lars May, head of application technology plastics in Lanxess’ Polymer Additives business unit, “We have already extensively tested our new products under realistic conditions. In cooperation with Lanxess’ High Performance Materials business unit, we colored compounds with Macrolex Orange HT at the plastics technical center in Dormagen and tested them for their suitability in plastics processing,”