Development of transition metal oxide–kaolin composite pigments for potential application in paint systems

•Simplistic low temperature synthesis of kaolinite–metal oxide composite pigments•Thorough characterizations of the samples to confirm their phase and morphology•Excellent antimicrobial efficacy of these pigment composites•Good and promising inexpensive ceramic pigment material in paint systems

The present work deals with a simplified process for synthesizing metal oxides of Cu(II), Ni(II), Cr(III) and Fe(III) imbibed kaolin pigments and characterizing those samples using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, FESEM and EDS in addition to the visual classification by color. Furthermore, PEG analysis and antimicrobial potency of these samples were investigated thoroughly which conferred positive impact depicting the fact that these metal oxides incorporated kaolin composites can serve as a good and promising ceramic pigment material in paint systems. Due to easy availability of kaolin and involvement of low temperature, the production cost of these synthesized pigments is highly reduced which can be an added advantage to the paint industry.