Patent ID: 8129448

Claim:
A method of preparing a polymer modified pigment comprising the steps of: i) combining, in any order, a modified pigment comprising a pigment having attached at least one reactive group, a polymer comprising at least one functional group, the polymer having an acid number ranging from 30 to 150, and a non-reactive diluent, to form a reaction mixture, wherein the functional group of the polymer is capable of reacting with the reactive group of the modified pigment and wherein the non-reactive diluent and the polymer are combined in a ratio of at least about 1 part non-reactive diluent to 1 part polymer; ii) reacting the polymer and the modified pigment in the reaction mixture to form a mixture comprising the polymer modified pigment and the non-reactive diluent; and iii) removing the non-reactive diluent from the mixture to form the polymer modified pigment, wherein the polymer modified pigment comprises the pigment having attached at least one polymeric group, and wherein the polymeric group comprises the polymer.