Titanium Dioxide

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2010 Update on TiO2!

Valetime Group have been sourcing Titanium Dioxide for the solvents, printing and paints industry for over 15 years history, supplying to North & South America, Europe and Asia. Due to staff changes in our Eastern European office, we are happy to announce that we can now supply Titanium Dioxide from one of Ukraine’s leading TiO2 producers.

Grades of Titanium Dioxide that are available from Ukraine include 220, 230, 270, 271 and 280.

Please contact our UK office for further information.

e-mail: uk [at] valetime group [dot] [com]

Specification sheet(s):

Grade R-220: TiO2 R-220 (Specification Sheet)

Grade R-230: TiO2 R-230 (Specification Sheet)

Grade R-270: TiO2 R-270 (Specification Sheet)

Grade R-271: TiO2 R-271 (Specification Sheet)

Grade R-280: TiO2 R-280 (Specification Sheet)

Introduction

TITANIUM DIOXIDE – PIGMENTAL – RUTILE GRADE

TITANIUM DIOXIDE ( TiO2 ) is derived from treating the naturally occurring ore Ilmenite (containing Titanium metal) with Sulphuric Acid and the resulting sulphate is further treated to produce an oxide.

A PIGMENT is any substance, though usually in the form of dry powder, that imparts colour to another substance.

TiO2 is available in 2 crystal forms – anatase and rutile.

RUTILE-TiO2 Is the preferred crystalline structure (when compared to anatase.) Because of its higher refractive index it provides about 30% higher light-scattering efficiency than anatase. Rutile is also superior to anatase TiO2 in weather-resistance properties. Consequently it is used more often in plastics applications.

Few, if any, commercial grades of titanium dioxide are pure TiO2. Most have inorganic and, in some cases, organic treatments deposited on the surfaces of the TiO2 particles by precipitation, mechanical blending or other methods. These surface treatments provide improvements in one or more performance properties of the pigment.

Uses

Why use TITANIUM DIOXIDE?

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is best known as the leading white pigment. This is because it is a photo-responsive material. In addition to its light-scattering abilities, TiO2 absorbs UV light energy.

As a white pigment, TiO2 is widely used for its efficiency in scattering visible light, and imparting whiteness, brightness, and opacity when incorporated into a plastic product.

However, the ability of titanium dioxide to absorb UV light energy ( from the Sun ) can also provide significant improvement in the weatherability ( = able to meet the effects of wind, rain and temperature change ) and durability ( = long lasting ) of polymer products.

TiO2 is available in 2 crystal forms – anatase and rutile.

VALETIME Limited experience of TiO2 indicates use :

in PAINTS – principally in emulsions, undercoats and primers for both wood amd metal,
in THERMOPLASTICS – usually road markings ( white lines ) This accounts for big demand in Summer.
in MASTER BATCH PLASTICS. Most plastics are made from raw materials in solid form – like pellets, beads or granules of plastic ( ABS, uPVC etc. ) This is known as a “master batch” which has a colour pigment already added – usually either black or white.
in uPVC MOULDINGS – like in master batch – most often as a Diluent. The biggest user application is for uPVC window and door frame mouldings.
in SEALANTS – the soft compound used as a filler or sealant in many applications.

Specification

Specifications are available for downloading from this page.
New Specifications are available for grades R-202 and R-203.

TiO2 Grade R-202 Specification

TiO2 Grade R-203 Specification

TiO2 produced for VALETIME is from Ukrainian production to Russian (GOST) standard No. 9808-84. This sets out the minimum standard for production.

The assay of TiO2 in the Rutile form is the critical factor in terms of a chemical analysis.

However in practice the uses made of TiO2 are more determined by physical properties rather than by chemical composition. In particular the whiteness of the pigment and the dispersion qualities of the crystals are most important.

Whiteness

This is a difficult property to measure and there are many tests and standards. General references to Opacity concerns the scattering of all wave-lengths of incident light. Specific reference to Tint or Tinting strength refers to the ability of a white pigment to efficiently scatter light and provide whiteness and brightness to a coloured plastic / polymer system.

TiO2 from VALETIME is produced in the Ukraine to GOST Standards ( see specifications ) which refer to “Whitening power” and “Whiteness” etc. which are references to TINT strengths based on readings from special test equipment.

Relative tinting strength is measured by dispersing a sample of TiO2 into a black master-batch at a prescribed ratio. The resulting polymer is then formed into sheets or chips. The polymer that is the lightest grey in colour and has the highest reflectance is the TiO2 sample with the greatest light-scattering efficiency.

A number of different types of instrument can be used to measure this. It is understood that the producer of TiO2 for VALETIME uses a) device RADUGA or b) SPECTROTON ( which give very similar results.) Therefore with regard to published specifications and analysis, the results quoted with brackets ( 1700) and ( 95) are based on RADUGA, and those without brackets 1600 and 92 are based on SPECTROTON.

In addition specifications include to remainder on sieve, particle size and hiding power which can be taken to refer to :

Undertone – the appearance of transmitted light. TiO2 grades with small particles are more yellow; grades with larger particles are bluer.

Colour – sometimes confused with undertone. TiO2 with a blue undertone may exhibit a yellow colour, which might be caused by contamination or adverse chemical reactions. TiO2 grades with different particle sizes can have the same colour. Most commercial TiO2 grades do not vary significantly in dry colour.

Dispersion
Specifications also refer to dispersive ability. This acknowledges that the value of titanium dioxide is best realised when it is well dispersed.

End-users testing

In the end the ONLY sure way is to TEST in laboratory and TRY IN PRODUCTION.

It is important to recognise that the TiO2 from the Ukraine is of LOWER WHITE STRENGTH ( NOT LOWER QUALITY ) than many competitor products. The lower white strength comes from the methods of production – which does not use a chlorine method ( this gives Blue / White result ) but rather a sulphuric method ( giving a Yellow result – hence not as white.)

“Lower white strength” means lower “whiteness” – even though all other aspects of production ( for example consistency, quality control, availability, packaging etc. are very high quality ) Lower in whiteness – but otherwise is good quality.

Valetime Limited experiences of TiO2 are based on sales to a range of companies – all with very demanding quality requirements. In all cases “quality” is considered before “price.” Typically TiO2 is considered for use in 2 categories:

as PRIMARY Raw Material – where ONLY TiO2 from VALETIME is used
use as a DILUENT – where TiO2 is used with more expensive grades to dilute the costs ( = reduce to a lower average of price)

Some customers use TiO2 as Primary raw material – others use as a Diluent – some customers use as both.

Formula: TiO2
Elements: Oxygen, Titanium
CAS Number: 13463-67-7
CCOHS Record Number: 617
RTECS Number: XR2275000
Synonyms: Rutile, Titanium Dioxide, Titanium oxide, Titanium peroxide

Packing

Modern export packing includes FIBC’s and shrunk wrapped palletised loads.

Safety Information

TiO2 MSDS – All Grades

General

Synonyms: titanium dioxide, tiox, unitane, horse head A-420, titan white, numerous trade names
Molecular formula: TiO2
CAS No: 13463-67-7 (1317-70-0)
EINECS No: 215-280-1