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Tag Archive: Hydrophobic Treated Silica

  1. Benefits of Hydrophobic Silica

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    Hydrophobic silicas are a unique class of materials with a wide variety of functional attributes and beneficial properties making it ideal for numerous applications ranging from adhesives, greases, and sealants to personal care and processing aid products. At Applied Material Solutions, we offer high-quality fumed and precipitated hydrophobic silicas to provide superior performance for your products.

    Benefits of Hydrophobic Silica

     Hydrophobic silica has several different benefits that make it a crucial ingredient in many different compounds across diverse industries. These benefits include:

    • Adsorbent. Hydrophobic silica adsorbs solid, liquid, and gaseous materials to easily convert liquids and pastes into powder. This allows for easier handling and dosing.
    • Anti-Blocking. Its anti-blocking properties prevent film sheets from sticking together due to static or other interactions.
    • Anti-Sagging. Hydrophobic silica increases sag resistance, making it especially useful for paints and coatings as it prevents them from drooping or running while wet.
    • Anti-Setoff. Hydrophobic silica prevents setoff, or the accidental transfer of ink between printed pages. It can be used to create anti-setoff sprays and powders.
    • Anti-Setting. It can be used in chemicals to slow pigment or paint dry times, especially on metallic surfaces. This is a key additive in paints and coatings, especially for use on larger or more complex projects that require more time for application.
    • Free Flow of Powders. Hydrophobic silica acts as an anti-caking material to prevent powders from caking or hardening. It controls the moisture to keep each particle separate and defined for free-flowing distribution or use.
    • Foam Control. Hydrophobic silica can be used as an active ingredient in defoamers, which reduce or minimize foam, making it ideal for adhesives, paints, food applications, and more.
    • Hydrophobicity Control. Hydrophobic silica naturally repels water and forces it to form droplets. Adding this material to compounds allows manufacturers to enhance hydrophobicity control in a product.
    • Mechanical and Optical Properties Improvements. Adding hydrophobic silica can improve the clarity, transparency, durability, and other attributes of materials.
    • Reinforcement. Hydrophobic silica reinforces the elastomeric properties of certain materials. It can increase the material’s tensile strength, resistance to tearing, and stabilization in the face of temperature changes.
    • Pigment Stabilization and Dispersion. Adding hydrophobic silica to pigments can make the liquid material more stable and easier to disperse evenly. This allows for a more reliable application of complex pigments.
    • Print Definition. Hydrophobic silica can reduce runoff, smudging, and other errors that reduce print definition and clarity. Inks with hydrophobic silica additives are clearer, crisper, and more precise.
    • Processability Improvements. Carefully adding quantities of hydrophobic silica to pigments, inks, sealants, and personal care products allows for more precise application and better processing.
    • Rheology Control. Hydrophobic silica can control the suspension of particles in water-based materials to ensure product consistency throughout the batch or container.
    • Thickening. It can thicken pigments, sealants, adhesives, and other products to prevent running and poor application control.
    • Thixotropy. Hydrophobic silica makes thick compounds thinner when they’re shaken, stirred, or otherwise disturbed. This temporary fluidity allows for easier mixing and preparation.
    • Suspension and Stability Behavior. Hydrophobic silica can stabilize complex fluid products and consistently suspend a mix of ingredients throughout the batch.

    Choose Applied Material Solutions for Hydrophobic Silica

    At Applied Material Solutions, our top-quality fumed and precipitated hydrophobic silicas offer reinforcement and enhanced performance for products across a diverse range of industries. Our state-of-the-art treated silica production facility allows us to produce large volumes and reduce delivery times for our customers. To learn more about the properties and applications of hydrophobic silica, check out our product page today.

  2. All About Hydrophobic Treated Silica Products

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    Applied Material Solutions (AMS) is a Wisconsin-based company that manufactures high-quality hydrophobic treated silica products, including both precipitated and fumed varieties. By leveraging our unique range of manufacturing capabilities, our expert team produces a wide range of silica products for use in a diverse set of industries.

    The following blog post provides an overview of hydrophobic treated silica products, outlining the chemical properties, applications, and solutions available from AMS.

    Chemical Properties of Hydrophobic Treated Silica

    Hydrophobic Treated SIlica

    In addition to its hydrophobic—i.e., water-repelling—properties, treated silica demonstrates several characteristics that make it well-suited for use in a wide range of applications. As an ingredient in other materials and products, it offers the following benefits:

    • Foam control. It serves as a key active ingredient in many foam control products, such as antifoaming agents, defoamers, and deaerators.
    • Powder free flow encouragement. It facilitates the free flow of powdered substances that have a tendency to “cake” or clump together. It also enhances their storage stability.
    • Processing improvements. The utilization of treated silica allows for optimal processability, hydrophobicity control, thickening, thixotropy, rheology control, and suspension and stability behavior. For example, motionless particles can be restored to their original level of viscosity with a minimum expenditure of energy.
    • Adsorbent qualities. It can adsorb compounds in gaseous, liquid, or solid states and act as a carrier that allows for the conversion of liquids and pastes into powders.
    • Anti-blocking, anti-sagging, anti-setting, and anti-setoff attributes. An example of an application in which these qualities are critical is in anti-setoff spray powder, which industry professionals use to maintain an air gap between printed sheets of paper to prevent ink bleed-through.
    • Mechanical improvements. It can improve tensile strength, elongation at break, and tear resistance and help minimize the effect of temperature on mechanical properties.
    • When used in materials, such as polymers, it reinforces both strength and structure.
    • Pigment stabilization and dispersion. It can prevent or delay the sedimentation of solids in liquid systems, as well as disperse sediments that have already settled, break down solid particles, and stop such particles from recombining.
    • Print definition enhancements. The resolution and print quality of toners can be significantly improved through the use of hydrophobic treated silica.
    • Thermal insulation. Amorphous silicon dioxide is a highly non-conductive material, making it an excellent choice for thermal insulation applications.

    Common Applications of Hydrophobic Treated Silica

    Hydrophobic treated silica finds application in a variety of materials and products. Some of its most common uses include:

    • Defoamers and antifoams
    • Demulsifiers
    • Fire extinguishers
    • Silicone rubber
    • Silicone sealants
    • Greases
    • Paints and coatings
    • Plastics
    • Polyester resins
    • Cosmetics
    • Inks and toners

    Hydrophobic Treated Silica Solutions From AMS

    At AMS, we manufacture treated silica products for a myriad of customer applications. Armed with years of silica treatment manufacturing experience and a modern manufacturing facility, our team can produce an array of products across a wide range of particle sizes, hydrophobicity levels, and surface areas to suit our customers’ needs.

    From development to production to testing and regulation, AMS strives to meet the requirements outlined by our customers and to provide the highest level of quality, accuracy, and performance. In doing so, we aim to minimize customer investment—both in regard to time and money—and maximize customer satisfaction.

    For additional information about our treated silica solutions, contact us today.

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