The Usages Of Titanium Dioxide For Paper

 

1.What is Titanium Dioxide ?

Dióxido de titânio is an important inorganic chemical pigment whose main component is TiO2 pigment. The chemical properties of titanium dioxide are relatively stable and generally do not react with other substances. They are mainly divided into platy TiO2, anatase titanium dioxide and rutile titanium dioxide.

TiO2 is in great demand in the market and is used in various fields. It has important uses in coatings, inks, papermaking, plastics and rubbers, chemical fibers, ceramics and other industries. Among them, coatings account for 60%, plastics account for 20%, and titanium dioxide for paper papermaking for 14%, and others (including cosmetics, chemical fibers, electronics, ceramics, enamels, welding rods, alloys, glass and other fields) account for 6%.

2. Titanium dioxide for paper

The paper industry is the third largest user of titanium dioxide. TiO2 pigment is generally not used in low-grade paper due to consideration of production costs, mainly china clay, talc, calcium carbonate, etc., but they will reduce the strength of the paper and increase the weight of the paper. TiO2 must be used in decorative paper, Bible paper and banknotes (such as dictionaries, pictorial newspapers, magazine covers, computers, banknotes, copier paper and decorative paper, etc.). 

As a paper filler, it is mainly used in high-grade paper and thin paper. Adding TiO2 to the paper can make the paper have good whiteness, good gloss, high strength, thin and smooth, no penetration during printing, and light weight. Under the same conditions, the opacity is 10 times higher than that of calcium carbonate and talc, and the quality can be reduced by 15% to 30%.

– Different uses of different titanium dioxide

Titanium dioxide for paper 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 dióxido de titânio rutilo to meet the requirements of light resistance and heat resistance.

Decorative paper, also known as titanium dioxide paper, is mainly used as raw materials for making furniture, floors, wallpapers, etc. For paper with anti-aging requirements, rutile must be used; more rutile is used in high-ash paper, which must use rutile, because the hiding power of anatase TiO2 cannot reach Require.

Anatase TiO2 is used in paper with low ash content, such as Bible paper and banknotes. Bible paper requires good opacity, which is generally satisfied by using anatase titanium oxide; currency paper also requires very high opacity. Good opacity, mainly anatase is also used. In China, the amount of titanium oxide used in decorative paper is much higher than the other two varieties, and this situation is determined by my country’s consumption level. According to incomplete estimates, the domestic titanium oxide used for decorative paper exceeds 30,000 tons per year.

– Requirements for the quality of titanium dioxide in the paper industry

The amount of  TiO2 in decorative paper is 20%~40%, and the titanium oxide in other papers is 1%~5%. Rutile is used for paper with weather resistance and high ash content, and anatase type is used for paper with low weather resistance and low ash content. . Since the cost ratio of TiO2 in papermaking is as high as 30% to 50%, paper mills are very careful about choosing TiO2 when they meet the requirements of users. They can use anatase and never use rutile.
The requirements for the quality of titanium oxide for paper industry are in the order of importance:

1. Covering power (opacity): The ability of paper containing the same titanium oxide to cover the background color. The printers specify the grade of the paper according to the opacity. The rutile TiO2 has a refractive index even higher than that of diamonds. It is a good light scattering material; titanium oxide provides good paper opacity due to better light scattering than other components in the paper. Rutile TiO2 pigment is more opaque than anatase titanium oxide.

This indicator determines the cost performance of titanium oxide. To put it simply, titanium oxide with high hiding power is generally more expensive, but the amount used is small, so the cost of titanium dioxide per ton of paper may be lower; titanium oxide with low hiding power, although the price is low, but the consumption is large, resulting increased cost of TIo2 in per ton of paper;

2. Whiteness: The whiteness of Tio2 determines the appearance of the paper after forming; Titanium oxide pigments fillers can be selected according to the whiteness of a specific paper

3. Dispersibility: The current papermaking process generally uses dispersants, so the water dispersibility of TiO2 is not much different;

4.  Weather resistance: domestic rutile can meet the weather resistance requirements of most papers, only a few papers need rutile to provide high weather resistance;

5. Retention rate: The paper industry all reuse the filtered water, or use retention aids. Generally, the recovery rate of  TiO2 is above 99%. The reason why this indicator is retained is because the international large TiO2 companies are promoting Titanium oxide for papermaking is provided with retention aid formulation and application methods at the same time to improve service quality and increase product competitiveness.

 

In addition to the paper industry, titanium dioxide is also used in various other industries, and the use of titanium dioxide is inseparable from life. We are a professional titanium dioxide company with professional export experience. If you have demand for titanium dioxide, please feel free to write to us. We will provide you with excellent service, high-quality products and competitive prices.