The use of titanium dioxide
Titanium dioxide is considered to be the best white pigment in the world and is widely used in coatings, plastics, papermaking, printing inks, chemical fibers, rubber, cosmetics and other industries.
Titanium dioxide (titanium dioxide) is chemically stable and does not react with most substances under normal circumstances. Titanium dioxide has three crystals in nature: platy, anatase and rutile. Plate titanium type is an unstable crystal form and has no industrial value. Anatase type and rutile type have stable crystal lattices. They are important white pigments and porcelain glazes. Compared with other white pigments, they have superior whiteness. , tinting strength, hiding power, weather resistance, heat resistance, and chemical stability, especially no toxicity.
Titanium dioxide is widely used in coatings, plastics, rubber, ink, paper, chemical fiber, ceramics, daily chemicals, medicine, food and other industries.
The paint industry is the largest user of titanium dioxide, especially rutile titanium dioxide, which is mostly consumed by the paint industry. Coatings made of titanium dioxide have bright colors, high covering power, strong tinting power, low dosage, and many varieties, which can protect the stability of the medium, and can enhance the mechanical strength and adhesion of the paint film to prevent cracks. Prevents the penetration of UV rays and moisture and prolongs the life of the paint film.
The plastics industry is the second largest user. Adding titanium dioxide to plastics can improve the heat resistance, light resistance and weather resistance of plastic products, improve the physical and chemical properties of plastic products, enhance the mechanical strength of products, and prolong service life.
The paper industry is the third largest user of titanium dioxide. As a paper filler, it is mainly used in high-grade paper and thin paper. Adding titanium dioxide to the paper can make the paper have good whiteness, good gloss, high strength, thin and smooth, no penetration during printing, and light weight. Titanium dioxide for papermaking generally uses anatase titanium dioxide without surface treatment, which can act as a fluorescent whitening agent and increase the whiteness of paper. However, the laminated paper requires the use of surface-treated rutile titanium dioxide to meet the requirements of light resistance and heat resistance.
Titanium dioxide is also an indispensable white pigment in advanced inks. The ink containing titanium dioxide is durable and does not change color, has good surface wettability and is easy to disperse. Titanium dioxide used in the ink industry has both rutile and anatase types.
Textile and chemical fiber industries are another important application area for titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide for chemical fiber is mainly used as a matting agent. Since the anatase type is softer than the golden red type, the anatase type is generally used. Titanium dioxide for chemical fiber generally does not need surface treatment, but some special varieties need surface treatment in order to reduce the photochemical effect of titanium dioxide and avoid fiber degradation under the action of titanium dioxide photocatalysis.
Enamel industry is an important application field of titanium dioxide. Enamel-grade titanium dioxide has high purity, good whiteness, fresh color, uniform particle size, strong refractive index and high achromatic power, and has strong opacity and turbidity. The opacity makes the coating thin, smooth and acid-resistant after enamel coating, and can be mixed with other materials evenly in the enamel manufacturing process, without agglomeration, easy to melt and so on.
The ceramic industry is also an important application field of titanium dioxide. Ceramic-grade titanium dioxide has the characteristics of high purity, uniform particle size, high refractive index, excellent high temperature resistance, and maintains no ash for 1 hour under high temperature conditions of 1200 °C. With high opacity, thin coating and light weight, it is widely used in ceramics, construction, decoration and other materials.