Fiber cement elements can be used in a variety of applications. They can be used for roofing and walling applications. Whether the intention is to emulate the color of natural slate, or to provide an entirely new color, inorganic pigments from LANXESS bring color to fiber cement elements. 

A very well known recent example is the Soccer-City stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. The entire façade, which gives the impression of a typical African cooking pot, is made of colored fiber cement panels. Bayferrox® pigments were used for the coloring. 

The choice of pigment is of major importance for the quality of the end-product. Years of tests on colored concrete products exposed to different climatic conditions all over the world have shown that inorganic oxide pigments have particularly good fastness properties.

Pigments from the product ranges Bayferrox® and Colortherm® can be used to add color. They display high quality levels in terms of color strength and color consistency. Because of their chemical structure, these products are highly weather stable, lightfast and UV-stable and are very well suited for the coloring of construction materials. At the same time the LANXESS production processes ensure low environmental impact. The color range of the entire Bayferrox® and Colortherm® product portfolio includes Yellows, Reds, Greens, Browns and Blacks. In between these colors a wide variety of additional shades are possible. For temperatues above 160-180 °C, which may be relevant in the autoclaving of fiber cement, certain restrictions with respect to heat stability need to be considered. LANXESS offers special pigments for these applications. 

The shades tend towards the opaque colors found in nature, and thus fit harmoniously with the environment. Pure colors like yellow can be made by using white cement. Brilliant, glossy shades, like those obtained in plastics and surface coatings, are very difficult to produce in building materials because of the composition and structure of the concrete.

The Global Competence Center Construction will gladly answer individual customer inquiries with respect to this field of application or provide further information about LANXESS pigments.