The plastic industry in general as well as the filler masterbatch industry knows the important role of this filler in optimizing costs, reducing shrinkage rate, increasing specific gravity, and increasing hardness for plastic products. Manufacturers of these filler mixes can use either calcium carbonate or talc as the main ingredient. Of course, these two substances look similar to the eye, but they have different physical properties as well as create end plastic products with different properties.
1-What is calcium carbonate?
Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is commonly known as limestone, marble, calcite. It is a neutral inorganic compound, basically insoluble in water and soluble in hydrochloric acid. Types of industrial calcium carbonate: heavy calcium carbonate (heavy calcium), active calcium carbonate (active calcium), light calcium carbonate (light calcium), nano calcium carbonate (nano calcium).
Heavy calcium products are mainly used in the paper, rubber, and plastic manufacturing industries. A large amount of filler, mainly volumetric filler, helps to reduce the production cost of the applied products.
Lightweight calcium products have a relatively wide range of applications, mainly volume filling, while calcium carbonate nano products are often used as functional fillers such as modification or reinforcement during application. , and the fill is generally small. The main application areas of lightweight calcium carbonate products are plastics, rubber, paints, adhesives, and inks.
What is Talc Powder?
Talc is a magnesium silicate mineral belonging to a trihedral mineral and its structural formula is (Mg6) [Si8] O20 (OH) 4. Talcum powder is generally bulk, lamellar, fibrous, or radial, and slippery in shape. It has the characteristics of small hardness and high melting points.
Talc powder has good electrical and thermal insulation, low expansion and contraction force, high dispersibility, strong hiding, good oil absorption and hydrophobicity, large slip resistance, small coefficient of friction, chemical properties Stable, resistance to acid and alkali corrosion. Due to its stable chemical properties, it is widely used in paper, chemical, paint, ceramics, cable, rubber, and other industries.
3-The difference in application characteristics between talc powder and calcium carbonate powder
Talc powder is milled from natural minerals, the shape of talc powder flakes, so it has high hardness, dimensional stability, and heat resistance, good reinforcing effect.
Calcium carbonate is generally granular, so the hardness is not equal to that of talcum powder, but it has many outstanding advantages over talcum powder when it is put into the production of plastic fillers such as lower cost than talcum powder, high whiteness (CaCO3 of Global Minerals Vietnam has a whiteness of over 98%). When used in production, calcium carbonate masterbatch is a relatively good stabilizer, which can help to improve the bubbles in the resin production process. This helps the product achieve a smooth and delicate surface… Therefore, the current trend is that calcium carbonate powder is more widely used in the production of filler masterbatch.
In summary, both calcium carbonate and talcum powder bring great benefits to today’s plastic filler production in factories. The choice of which is more economical and effective is highly dependent on the discretion of the filler masterbatch manufacturers for each specific product application.
