Coloured microstructured effect pigments

1. Colored flake-form effect pigments comprising one or more layers, where at least one of the layers comprises one or more colorants or is itself a colorant and at least one of the layers has a groove or grid structure, wherein the groove or grid structure has 250 nm to 2000 nm separations between adjacent grooves or grids.

2. Effect pigments according to claim 1 , which comprise a substrate layer that comprise one or more colorants or is itself a colorant and has a groove or grid structure.

3. Effect pigments according to claim 2 , wherein a substrate layer comprises one or more metal oxides, metal oxide hydrates, metal suboxides, metal fluorides, metal nitrides, metal oxynitrides, metal phosphates or a mixture thereof.

4. Effect pigments according to claim 3 , wherein a substrate layer comprises aluminum oxide, titanium dioxide, titanium suboxide, titanium oxynitride, silicon dioxide, zirconium oxide, iron oxide, ilmenite, pseudobrookite, chromium oxide, cobalt oxide and/or vanadium oxide.

5. Effect pigments according to claim 1 , wherein a substrate layer is coated with one or more transparent, semitransparent and/or opaque layers of metal oxides, metal oxide hydrates, metal suboxides, metals, metal fluorides, metal nitrides, metal oxynitrides, metal phosphates or a mixture thereof.

6. Effect pigments according to claim 1 , which comprise a colorless substrate layer comprising no colorants and having a groove or grid structure and to which one or more layers have been applied on at least one side, where at least one of the layers comprises one or more colorants or is itself a colorant.

7. Effect pigments according to claim 6 , wherein the colorless substrate layer comprising no colorants comprises one or more metal fluorides, metal oxides, metal oxide hydrates, metal suboxides, metals, metal nitrides, metal oxynitrides, metal phosphates or a mixture thereof.

8. Effect pigments according to claim 6 , wherein the colorless substrate layer comprising no colorants comprises magnesium fluoride, aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, zirconium oxide, aluminum or a mixture thereof.

9. Effect pigments according to claim 6 , wherein the one or more layers comprises one or more metal oxides, metal oxide hydrates, metal suboxides, metals, metal fluorides, metal nitrides, metal oxynitrides, metal phosphates or a mixture thereof.

10. Effect pigments according to claim 1 , which comprise a colorless substrate layer comprising no colorants and having a groove or grid structure and to which one or more colorless layers or one or more layers comprising no colorants have optionally been applied to at least one side, and which is encased with a polymer layer comprising one or more colorants.

11. Effect pigments according to claim 10 , wherein the colorless substrate layer comprising no colorants comprises one or more metal fluorides, metal oxides, metal oxide hydrates, metal suboxides, metals, metal nitrides, metal oxynitrides, metal phosphates or a mixture thereof.

12. Effect pigments according to claim 10 , wherein the colorless substrate layer comprising no colorants comprises magnesium fluoride, aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, zirconium oxide, aluminum or a mixture thereof.

13. Effect pigments according to claim 10 , wherein the one or more colorless layers or one or more layers comprising no colorants comprise one or more metal oxides, metal oxide hydrates, metal suboxides, metals, metal fluorides, metal nitrides, metal oxynitrides, metal phosphates or a mixture thereof.

14. Colored flake-form effect pigments comprising one or more layers, where at least one of the layers comprises one or more colorants or is itself a colorant and at least one of the layers has a groove or grid structure, which comprise a colorless substrate layer comprising no colorants and having a groove or grid structure and to which one or more colorless layers or layers comprising no colorants have optionally been applied to at least one side, and which is encased with a polymer layer comprising one or more colorants, wherein the polymer is a crosslinked melamine-formaldehyde resin or a crosslinked polystyrene.

15. Effect pigments according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more colorants are one or more inorganic or organic dyes and/or pigments or luminescent colorants.

16. Effect pigments according to claim 14 , wherein the groove or grid structure has 250 nm to 2000 nm separations between adjacent grooves or grids.

17. Effect pigments according to claim 1 , wherein the groove or grid structure is formed by arranged lines, hemispheres, spheres, pyramids, cubes or correspondingly shaped holes.

18. A process for preparing colored flake-form effect pigments according to claim 1 , comprising a) providing a body with a groove or grid structure, which may be applied to a support, b) coating the body with one or more layers, where at least one of the layers comprises one or more colorants or is itself a colorant, and c) detaching the one or more layers from the body or separating the one or more layers from the support together with the body.

19. A process according to claim 18 , wherein the body provided with a groove or grid structure is coated with a substrate layer comprising one or more colorants or with a colored substrate layer, and wherein the substrate layer is detached from the body.

20. A process according to claim 19 , further comprising coating the substrate layer with one or more transparent, semitransparent and/or opaque layers of one or more metal oxides, metal oxide hydrates, metal suboxides, metals, metal fluorides, metal nitrides, metal oxynitrides, metal phosphates or a mixture thereof.

21. A process according to claim 18 , wherein the body provided with a groove or grid structure is coated with a colorless substrate layer or a substrate layer comprising no colorant, onto which one or more layers are applied, where at least one of the layers comprises one or more colorants or is itself a colorant, and wherein the substrate layer is detached from the body.

22. A process for preparing colored flake-form effect pigments according to claim 1 , comprising a) providing a body with a groove or grid structure which is coated with a colorless substrate layer or a substrate layer comprising no colorant, b) detaching the substrate layer from the body, and c) then applying one or more layers to the detached substrate layer, where at least one of the one or more layers comprises one or more colorants or is itself a colorant.

23. A process for preparing colored flake-form effect pigments according to claim 1 , comprising a) providing a body with a groove or grid structure which is coated with a colorless substrate layer or a substrate layer comprising no colorant, b) detaching the substrate layer from the body, and c) then optionally applying one or more colorless layers or layers comprising no colorants to the detached substrate layer, and d) then a polymer layer comprising one or more colorants is applied.

24. A process for preparing colored flake-form effect pigments comprising one or more layers, where at least one of the layers comprises one or more colorants or is itself a colorant and at least one of the layers has a groove or grid structure, comprising a) providing a body with a groove or grid structure which is coated with a colorless substrate layer or a substrate layer comprising no colorant, b) detaching the substrate layer from the body, and c) then optionally applying one or more colorless layers or layers comprising no colorants to the detached substrate layer, and d) then a polymer layer comprising one or more colorants is applied, wherein the polymer layer is formed by depositing crosslinking melamine-formaldehyde resins on the one or more layers, followed by curing or crosslinking of the melamine-formaldehyde resins.

25. A process according to claim 18 , wherein the body with a grid structure has arranged lines, hemispheres, pyramids, cubes or spheres.

26. A process according to claim 19 , wherein the coating with a substrate layer or the coating with one or more layers is carried out wet-chemically, by a sol-gel process or via a PVD and/or CVD process.

27. A cosmetic composition, surface coating, paint, plastic article, film, pigment composition, dry preparation, a security application, a tracer, a laser marking, a coloring seed, a food coloring, or a medicament coating, comprising effect pigments according to claim 1 .

28. A process for preparing colored flake-form effect pigments comprising one or more layers, where at least one of the layers comprises one or more colorants or is itself a colorant and at least one of the layers has a groove or grid structure, comprising a) providing a body with a groove or grid structure, which may be applied to a support, b) coating the body with one or more layers, where at least one of the layers comprises one or more colorants or is itself a colorant, and c) detaching the one or more layers from the body or separating the one or more layers from the support together with the body, wherein the groove or grid structure has 250 nm to 200 nm separations between adjacent grooves or grids.