A dispersing agent is not a universal wetting agent. Electrostatic naphthalene sulfonates, steric FAE, and anti-settling oils do different jobs in the millbase. Esteem’s published industrial grade is Product PIO on dispersing agents. Specify the particle and the failure mode, then pick the mechanism.
What a Dispersant Has to Do
Pigments, GCC, clay, and disperse dyes want to agglomerate. A dispersant adsorbs on the surface and keeps particles apart by charge (anionic sulfonates) or by a hydrated polymer layer (nonionic ethoxylates). If you only wet the powder and skip stabilization, grind viscosity climbs, color streaks, and the slurry sets in the tank. Esteem’s product table is thin on purpose: Product PIO is the naphthalene-based anionic dispersant stabilizer. The page copy also points to FAE and vegetable-oil anti-settling as related tools—use them as complementary chemistry, not as unnamed extra SKUs on that table.
Chemistry Map
| Family | How it stabilizes | Typical start |
|---|---|---|
| Product PIO (naphthalene anionic) | Electrostatic repulsion on charged surfaces | Inorganic pigments, carbon, paper filler slurries |
| Fatty alcohol ethoxylates | Wetting + steric barrier | Organic pigments, textile baths, mixed grinds |
| Vegetable-oil anti-settling | Rheology / hindered settling | Can stability after the grind is already good |
Coatings, Paper, and Textiles
Paint and coating. Order of addition still wins: water, dispersant, pigment, then grind, then binder. PIO is the anionic stabilizer in that millbase. For binder emulsification and grind recipes, use paint and coating chemicals and the product page pigment dispersion for paint and coating—this article does not replace a full grind SOP.
Paper. Coating kitchens and filler make-down need a stable slurry. Retention on the wire is a later step: VENPAPER AST flocculates; a dispersant must not be fighting that polymer in the same chest. Keep slurry make-down and wet-end retention as separate addition points.
Textile. Disperse-dye baths need a dispersant so dye particles do not speckle. Leveling is a different auxiliary. Read dyeing auxiliaries: leveling and dispersing for jet and package dye practice, then come back to PIO when the particle stabilizer is the gap.
Hard Water, Foam, and Overdose
Anionic sulfonates lose efficiency when calcium collapses the double layer. If the slurry is fine in RO water and dead in well water, add a chelating agent or a nonionic co-dispersant rather than doubling PIO. Overdose can foam, raise COD, and—on paper machines—interfere with sizing and retention. Foam in a coating kitchen still wants a kitchen-safe defoamer, not more dispersant.
How to Specify with Esteem
- Name the solid (TiO2, carbon, GCC, disperse dye) and continuous phase (water, pH).
- State the failure: grind viscosity, floc after dilution, settling in the can, specks in the bath.
- List binder or dye class and any existing FAE or rheology package.
- Request Product PIO from the dispersing agents table; ask separately if you need FAE or anti-settling.
Related chemistry: anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, textile chemicals.
Contact Esteem for samples, or custom synthesis for a non-catalogue dispersant window.