Method for producing a pigment paste, aqueous electrocoat material, use thereof, method for cataphoretic electrocoating, and coated article

1. An aqueous electrocoat material which comprises a cataphoretically depositable resin system and a pigment paste obtained by a method comprising:

mixing at least one pigment, in the form of solid particles, with a grind resin in the presence of at least one of water or an organic liquid, thereby obtaining a pigment paste

wherein the grind resin comprises a dispersion of core-shell particles in an epoxide prepolymer which is liquid at 20° C., and the core-shell particles have a silicone core and a polymer shell.

2. The aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the resin system comprises at least one epoxide-based monomer or at least one prepolymer and at least one curing agent for epoxides.

3. The aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 1 , which is in the form of a miniemulsion.

4. The aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 1 ,

which comprises at least 30 ppm of bismuth in dissolved form, based on the total preparation, wherein calculated amount is based on the amount of bismuth metal in the aqueous electrocoat material.

5. The aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 1 ,

which comprises at least 100 ppm of bismuth in dissolved form, based on the total preparation, wherein calculated amount is based on the amount of bismuth metal in the aqueous electrocoat material.

6. The aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 1 ,

which comprises at least 200 ppm of bismuth in dissolved form, based on the total preparation, wherein calculated amount is based on the amount of bismuth metal in the aqueous electrocoat material.

7. The aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 1 ,

which comprises at least 250 ppm of bismuth in dissolved form, based on the total preparation, wherein calculated amount is based on the amount of bismuth metal in the aqueous electrocoat material.

8. The aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises homogenizing a pigment paste obtained from said mixing.

9. The aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the pigment particles, during said homogenizing, are comminuted to a preselected particle size and dispersed by introduction of mechanical energy.

10. The aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the polymer shell of the core-shell particles comprises at least one poly(meth)acrylate.

11. The aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the epoxide prepolymer has an epoxy equivalent weight in the range from 150 to 300 g/eq.

12. The aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the dispersion of core-shell particles is present in an epoxide prepolymer, in an amount such that the pigment paste obtained from said mixing comprises 1 to 6 wt % of core-shell particles, based on the total amount of the grind resin.

13. A method for cataphoretic electrocoating of metal surfaces, comprising:

contacting a metal surface with the aqueous electrocoat material as claimed in claim 1 .

14. The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein said contacting comprises:

(1) immersing the metal surface with said aqueous electrocoat material

(2) applying, for at least ten seconds, a voltage in a range of from 1 to 50 V to the immersed metal surface; and

(3) applying, for at least ten seconds, a voltage in a range of from 50 to 400 V to the immersed metal surface, provided the voltage applied during said (3) applying is not less than 10 V more than the voltage applied during said (2) applying.

15. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the metal surface is an aluminum surface.