Modified C.I. Pigment Red 170 with a core-shell structure: Preparation, characterization and computational study

Modified C.I. Pigment Red 170 with a core-shell structure was prepared by using the surface-modified silica fume with silane coupling agent as the inorganic addition in the preparation process of organic pigment. The grafting of silane coupling agent on the surface of silica fume was determined by fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and the optimal modification conditions on the silica fume was determined by the analysis results of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis spectra and color performance of the organic pigment. And the results showed that the silica fume (30 g) modified with 12 mL γ-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (KH550) was the best to prepare modified pigment. Then, the modified pigment prepared with KH550-silica fume was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), TEM, Nano Particle Analyzer and UV-vis spectra, the results showed that organic pigment and silica fume formed a core-shell structure, and the morphology, particle size and the thickness of organic pigment layer on the surface of silica fume could be adjusted by the dosage of KH550-silica fume. In the end, based on the Maxwell's and Laplace's equations, a computational study on the adsorption spectra of modified pigment was carried out, and it was found that the computational results were well agreed with experimental results.