Optical Brightener

Optical Brighteners are fluorescent whitening agents, designed to brighten colors or mask yellowing in plastics, lacquers, paints, inks, photo-processing solutions and fibers. They function by absorbing invisible ultraviolet radiation and re-emitting it as visible light in the blue range of the spectrum. Optical brighteners are particularly effective in masking the yellowish cast sometimes observed in plastics and fibers after high temperature processing operation. They are also used in substrates containing pigments or dyes to make the colors appear more brilliant.