Gloss Meter | Does Toner Affect the Gloss of Plastics?

Plastic is another kind of high-molecular material that is artificially synthesized by many materials through chemical means. A product that can be arbitrarily kneaded into various shapes as desired and can finally maintain the same shape. It is also widely used in various industries. Plastic has the advantages of low manufacturing cost, shiny, light weight, insulation, corrosion resistance, strong plasticity and so on.
       In order to make a variety of color plastic products, some plastic parts will add a certain amount of toner, many users will worry that the addition of toner will affect the gloss of the plastic parts surface. In order to see the effect of toner on the gloss, customers need to use a professional gloss meter for plastic to detect the surface gloss of plastic parts before and after adding toner.

1. Does the addition of toner affect the plastic gloss?

Plastic toners can give plastics a variety of colors. But in the use of toners, if the color is not adjusted according to regulations, it will affect the surface gloss of plastic products. Even the performance will be reduced.

Plastic gloss is a characteristic of its surface that depends on the surface's ability to specularly reflect light. When the light shines on the plastic part surface, part of it will be absorbed by the object, part of it will be reflected and scattered and part of it will be refracted. The smaller the roughness of the plastic part surface, the more light is reflected and the higher the gloss. The size and particle size distribution of toner particles in plastic are important factors affecting the gloss of plastics. If the toner distribution is uneven or excessively added, it will affect the plastic surface gloss.

2. How to detect the effect of toner on the plastics gloss?

Some products need to show the surface metal texture realistically, so the polymer morphology on the metal surface needs to be changed in advance to make plastic products with various gloss characteristics on the surface. Some plastics tend to be directional due to their different forming methods and their gloss is also different. Such as the ceiling lampshade and embossed lampshade used for lighting, the material's transparency and opalescent properties will affect the gloss of the material.

In order to accurately determine the effect of toner on the plastics gloss, we can use the Linshang gloss meter for plastic LS191 to measure the gloss of plastic parts before and after adding toner. Through comparative analysis, we can find a more suitable toner addition ratio and manufacturing process. 
       The purpose of testing the gloss of plastics is to evaluate the quality of the product based on data inspection and to indicate whether the production of toner is related to the surface gloss of the material. The refractive index range of plastic is approximately 1.4 ~ 1.6 GU. The gloss is generally within the range of 70 ~ 110 GU. However, the reflective conditions of transparent plastics and translucent plastics are different and cannot be generalized. You can use the 60 ° gloss meter for plastic LS191 to measure and evaluate the gloss of plastics.