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In various decorative coatings, craft products, and cosmetics, the color gold often symbolizes nobility and luxury. However, when users search for pigments that can achieve a gold effect, they often only know the general term “gold powder” without understanding which specific type to choose. In fact, commonly available gold powders on the market can be broadly categorized into three types: genuine gold powder, bronze powder, and pearlescent gold powder. These different types vary significantly in composition, physical properties, price, and applicable fields.
I. Genuine Gold Powder
As the name suggests, genuine gold powder is made from real gold ground into fine powder through mechanical processes. It boasts the most authentic metallic luster, extremely high stability, pure color, and never oxidizes, maintaining a brilliant golden effect for a long time. However, due to the high cost of raw materials, genuine gold powder is very expensive. Therefore, it is primarily used in high-end art restoration, gilding on ancient buildings, religious statues, luxury decorations, and special craft applications. It is rarely used in general daily decorations or industrial fields.
II. Bronze Powder
Bronze powder is currently the most widely used type of metallic pigment. It is an alloy powder primarily composed of copper and zinc, produced through precise mechanical grinding and surface treatment processes. Depending on the alloy ratio, bronze powder can exhibit different shades of gold, such as green gold, red gold, and greenish-red gold.
Bronze powder offers excellent metallic quality and strong covering power, with bright color and intense reflective effects. It is commonly used in metallic paints, plastics, electroplating substitute coatings, printing inks, and surface decoration of crafts. Its drawback is that the metal is relatively reactive and prone to oxidation and discoloration in humid or acidic/alkaline environments. Therefore, antioxidant agents are usually added in formulation design, or coating treatments are applied to enhance its weather resistance and stability.
III. Pearlescent Gold Powder
Unlike the two metallic types mentioned above, pearlescent gold powder is a non-metallic pigment but can produce shimmer and luster effects close to those of metal. The base material for pearlescent gold powder is typically mica flakes, coated with titanium dioxide, iron oxide, or other metal oxides at high temperatures. Due to its unique optical structure, pearlescent gold powder possesses both the soft luster of pearls and the reflective shine of metal, hence it is widely referred to as “pearlescent gold powder” or “pearlescent gold pigment”.
Pearlescent gold powder appears as transparent, flat powder particles, featuring relatively large particle size, high flatness, and high refractive index (average refractive index can reach 2.5). It is non-toxic, odorless, non-conductive, non-flammable, and does not arc. It exhibits good chemical inertness and excellent resistance to acids and alkalis. Additionally, its heat resistance can exceed 900°C, with very high weather resistance, making it less prone to fading or darkening. Pearlescent gold powder also has good dispersion properties and can be used in water-based, oil-based, and solvent-based systems, suitable for various gold-effect coatings such as water-based gold paint, metallic paint, plastic coatings, and craft paints.
IV. Difference Between Natural Mica and Synthetic Mica Pearlescent Gold Powder
Based on raw materials, pearlescent gold powder can be further divided into two main categories: natural mica pearlescent gold powder and synthetic mica pearlescent gold powder.
Natural mica pearlescent gold powder uses natural mica as the base material, processed through grinding and metal oxide coating. Its color is relatively soft. However, due to the limited transparency and purity of natural mica, the final product’s brightness and sparkle are comparatively lower, and the color can appear somewhat dull, making it relatively cheaper.
Synthetic mica pearlescent gold powder uses high-purity synthetic mica as the base material, which has a more regular crystal structure and higher transparency. After coating, it exhibits a brighter, purer, and more crystal-clear golden luster, sparkling like crystal, hence it is also called “crystal pearlescent gold powder”. This type of pearlescent powder offers higher color saturation, stronger layering effect, and better weather resistance and dispersion compared to natural mica-based products. It is gradually becoming the preferred choice for high-end decorative materials and special effect coatings.
V. Application Fields of Pearlescent Gold Powder
Due to its elegant golden luster and excellent physical and chemical properties, pearlescent gold powder is widely used in various industries and fields:
- Construction and Decoration: Used for surface decoration in KTVs, hotels, temples, Buddha statues, reliefs, carvings, PU lines, etc., imparting a luxurious and noble visual effect to spaces.
- Industrial Coatings: Commonly used in metallic paints, fluorocarbon paints, automotive refinish paints, plastic coatings, etc., giving product surfaces a metallic brightness and texture.
- Art Crafts and Stationery: Used for gilding on religious statues, artwork, decorative carvings, etc.
- Daily Chemicals and Cosmetics Industry: Because pearlescent gold powder has low heavy metal content and is non-toxic and odorless, meeting safety requirements for cosmetic grade, it is widely used in nail polish, eyeshadow, foundation, and skincare packaging.
- Building Materials and Grouting Products: Pearlescent gold powder is often used in grouts, epoxy floors, and gold coatings to enhance the overall decorative texture.
VI. Models and Selection Advice
Pearlescent gold powder is typically classified into different specifications based on particle fineness, such as 100 mesh, 200 mesh, 400 mesh, 600 mesh, 800 mesh, 1000 mesh, 1200 mesh, etc. Larger particle sizes offer stronger sparkle and are suitable for large-area decoration. Finer particle sizes provide a softer metallic texture and are suitable for fine crafts and products requiring high surface smoothness. Users can select the type based on different application techniques and visual requirements.
