These additives are often used to enhance the appearance of color, causing a "whitening" effect, they make intrinsically yellow/orange materials look less so, by compensating the deficit in blue and purple light reflected by the material, with the blue and purple optical emission of the fluorophore.
Its various applications are Thermoplastics especially for PVC, PS, PE, PP, ABS, Polyolefin. Optical brighteners also find applications in paper brightening, detergents and soaps, fabrics,synthetics and plastics. They are also used in various end-use sectors including cosmetics, textile, and industries. Soaps and detergent industry is experiencing a strong demand from the emerging economies.
Forms of Brightener are:-
1) Optical Brightener
2) Optical Brightener-1