Why AURA® Infusion Technology for Plastic Parts May Be Right For You

Why Use AURA® Infusion Technology?
Now you can apply color and functional additives to one - or a million and one - plastic parts with the patented AURA® infusion technology. This technology offers several benefits, especially for applications that need to be produced in a number of colors.

Since color and functional additives are infused into parts made from clear, translucent or opaque resins, you can reduce inventory of pre-colored resins or colored parts. AURA® infusion technology allows true customization on-demand, adding speed and flexibility to production. Customers control the infusion process in-house and can make frequent changes easily.

AURA® infusion technology is ideal for short-run, made-to-order, customized products produced by injection molding or extrusion.


How does the AURA® Infusion Process Work?
Equipment can typically be set up in a customer's shop. Color and functional additives are applied to the molded or extruded parts using a proprietary infusion technology. The infusion takes place in a heated bath containing a mostly aqueous solution of dye, functional additives and a proprietary, polymer-friendly surfactant. The part is placed in the coloring solution until the desired depth of color is achieved, which can take from a few seconds to a couple of minutes. The colorants and additives penetrate into the part, which eliminates the potential for color rub-off,


For Clear, Translucent or Opaque Engineered Plastic Parts
With AURA® infusion technology, you can add a wide array of bright or subtle colors as well as functional additives such as UV absorbers or thermal stabilizers to plastic parts made of clear, translucent or opaque engineered plastics. AURA® adds color, not special effects; however, special effects that are in the part before coloring - such as sparkles or metal flakes - will show through after coloring. Black, white, or light gray colors and metallic special effects cannot be achieved; colors for food-contact applications are not available, however, AURA® infusion technology can be used to color parts for water contact applications.

The AURA® infusion process can be used with parts produced from Bayer's engineered plastics. But don't expect plain-Jane colors for your Makrolon® polycarbonate or Texin® thermoplastic polyurethane resin. Spring Meadow, Heat Wave and Pacific Cruise are only a few examples of colors that can add character and style to your product. Better yet, create your own custom colors.