Optimizing the performance of titanium dioxide and other pigments for your paints, pigments, plastics

Live Webinar May 12th, 2020

Titanium dioxide is a white pigment used in paints, pigments, plastics and various other specialty chemicals. It is preferred over other pigments like zinc oxide. Why? Because of its ability to give whiteness as well as hiding power or opacity to coatings. This is due to its properties of not absorbing visible light as well as its high refractive index. Titanium dioxide is however an expensive pigment and hence manufacturers need to carefully optimize it.

During this webinar, we share tips that manufacturers can engage to fully optimize the use of their pigments for high performance products. Our application specialist will draw reference to pigments such as titanium dioxide as well as other organic pigments. This is mainly by monitoring particle size, separations and mineralogical phase analysis.

1. How to check for agglomerations and ensure separation of titanium dioxide pigment particles: remember that the pigment scatters light most efficiently when all particles are separated and well dispersed

2. Monitoring the particle size of TiO2 pigments: Size affects the opacity (scattering) behaviour of the paint

3. Glossiness and durability: Maintaining a small particle size prevents against weathering. This is since coatings consisting of large particles or agglomerates can be more easily dislodged, resulting in the surface rapidly losing its gloss.

4. Gloss retention and prevention of chalking at the surface: Organic binders in paint and pigments tend to degrade due to weathering, causing TiO2 to appear at the surface, hence giving the coating a chalky appearance. It is hence critical to check the phases of TiO2 using X-ray diffraction. In the rutile phase, TiO2 is more resistant to chalking.

You can register for free to all our webinars and you will automatically receive the On-Demand version