Application of Ultrafine Calcium Carbonate Powder in Coatings
Application of Ultrafine Calcium Carbonate Powder in Coatings
Applications of ultrafine calcium carbonate powder: water-based coatings and solvent-based coatings.
Application characteristics of ultrafine calcium carbonate powder: it significantly improves the thixotropy of the system, markedly enhances coating adhesion, scrub resistance, stain resistance, mechanical strength, and surface smoothness, provides excellent anti-settling performance, partially replaces titanium dioxide to reduce costs.
Ultrafine calcium carbonate powder is used as a pigment extender in the coatings industry, offering advantages such as uniform particle size, high whiteness, and excellent optical properties. Nano-sized ultrafine calcium carbonate exhibits steric hindrance, which helps keep highly concentrated lithopone suspensions evenly dispersed during paint formulation, thereby preventing sedimentation. Once the coating is formulated, the resulting film exhibits increased whiteness, high gloss, and strong hiding power. As a pigment extender, it boasts fine, uniform particles, high whiteness, and superior optical performance; its steric hindrance enables it to stabilize high-concentration lithopone suspensions in coatings, effectively inhibiting settling. The finished coating shows enhanced whiteness and gloss without compromising hiding power, making it widely applicable in the coatings sector—particularly in automotive paints. Calcium carbonate powder can serve as a white pigment in coatings, providing structural support and acting as a filler. It is also commonly used as an extender pigment due to its white color, low cost compared with latex binders, fine particle size, and excellent dispersibility in coatings, making it a versatile and widely adopted extender. With growing environmental awareness, waterborne coatings have seen extensive use in architectural applications, and calcium carbonate remains a staple because of its white color, hydrophilicity, and affordability. Incorporating calcium carbonate as a filler enhances the primer’s adhesion and penetration into the substrate, while putty in coatings serves to fill surface irregularities and forms the intermediate layer of the entire coating system. Whether or not substantial amounts of filler are required, heavy-grade calcium carbonate is typically the primary filler in putty formulations; a small addition of lithopone can increase viscosity and improve the coating’s open texture, followed by the appropriate incorporation of precipitated calcium carbonate for polishing after drying.
In thick coatings, calcium carbonate powder can increase film thickness and improve fill and leveling properties; therefore, both heavy-grade and light-grade calcium carbonate are commonly added to heavyweight coatings, with the dosage of heavy-grade calcium carbonate ranging from 24.6% to 78.5%.
In topcoats—specifically in semi-gloss and matte finishes—it is necessary to increase the pigment volume to reduce gloss, and calcium carbonate powder is an ideal matting filler.
Calcium carbonate powder can be used as an additive in colored coatings to reduce material costs and enhance decorative effects. Lightweight calcium carbonate, also known as precipitated calcium carbonate, is suitable for use in colored coatings; it has an oil absorption of approximately 80%, a particle size of about 15 micrometers, a specific gravity of around 2.7, and a refractive index of roughly 1.60. It can also be produced from heavy calcium carbonate (calcite powder), which is obtained by grinding natural marble.
In metallic anti-corrosion coatings, calcium carbonate powder is a extender pigment with virtually no anti-corrosion performance; the optimal content of calcium carbonate in such coatings is 30%.
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Guangxi Hezhou Mining Investment Intelligent Science Calcium Carbonate Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Intelligent Science Company) was established on July 4, 2018, with a registered capital of RMB 150 million. Its registered address is Xiwanyuan, Wanggao Industrial Zone (the RMB 100-billion Calcium Carbonate Industry Demonstration Base), Hezhou City. The company’s business scope includes mining investment, mineral extraction, processing and sales, as well as the sale of mineral products and mining equipment.
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