Is silica micro powder beneficial for coatings?

Today, Haosen Mineral, a manufacturer of modified silica micro powder, will briefly talk about the effects of silica micro powder on coatings.

Titanium dioxide is the main white filler in powder coatings, but its preparation process is complex, causes significant environmental pollution, and is expensive. Silicon micro powder has a similar structure to titanium dioxide, so we are trying to use silicon micro powder instead of titanium dioxide.

The hardness of coatings is related to the main film-forming substances, pigments, and fillers. When the main film-forming substances are constant, the fillers have a dominant effect on the hardness of the coating film. As shown in Table 2, with the increase of silicon micro powder content, the hardness of the coating film increases, which can greatly improve the wear resistance of the coating film.

Silicon micro powder has a high surface activity and forms a force far greater than van der Waals force with epoxy groups at the interface, which is beneficial for stress transfer between silicon micro powder and epoxy resin and improves the ability to bear loads. This is the reason why the impact resistance of the coating increases initially with the increase of silicon micro powder. When the amount of silicon micro powder exceeds 50%, the strength of the composite material decreases and the impact resistance decreases accordingly. Therefore, silicon micro powder cannot completely replace titanium dioxide, but it can work synergistically to improve the impact resistance within a certain range.

Unsaturated polyester insulation paint is made by first polymerizing diols, saturated dicarboxylic acids, and unsaturated dicarboxylic acids, and then diluting them with styrene, diallyl phthalate, or acrylic ester. Good electrical and mechanical properties, suitable for immersion treatment of various motors and transformers, can improve the insulation performance, mechanical performance, and thermal conductivity of electrical appliances.

However, the addition of silicon micro powder can lead to a decrease in the glossiness and whiteness of the coating. If the requirements for glossiness and whiteness are not high, then silicon micro powder is a good substitute for titanium dioxide.

For more information about crystalline silicon micro powder, you can consult modified silicon micro powder manufacturer Haosen Mineral in detail.