The silica particles extracted from natural resources contains metal impurities and not favorable for advanced scientific and industrial applications. Thus, focus is given to synthetic silica (colloidal silica, silica gels, pyrogenic silica, and precipitated silica), which is pure and produced mostly in amorphous powder forms compared to natural mineral silica (quartz, tridymite, cristobalite) which are in crystalline forms. Advancement in nanotechnology has led to the production of colloidal silica which is suspension of fine amorphous, nonporous, and typically spherical silica particles in a liquid phase. There are many grades of colloidal silica, but all of them are composed of silica particles ranging in size from about 3 nm up to about 150 nm.
Silica sol as an applicable precursor could be used in lots of industrial applications, such as:
· Construction
Used across the construction industry for increased durability and strength in concrete and cementing operations and ground consolidation.
· Foundry
Enabling precision, strength, safety and reliability in the foundry industry such as precision investment casting and refractory materials.
· Polishing
Creating nearly defect-free, flat surfaces on silicon semiconductor and sapphire wafers, and optical lenses.
· Coating
Its application in coating industry includes decorative coatings, inorganic & insulation coatings, non-stick coatings, paper, inkjet & photo, pigment & fillers, plastic films, protective coatings, wood coatings are prolonging open-time, improving hardness and durability as well as improving anti-soiling properties.
· Other applications
In addition to stated applications, colloidal silica can be used in adhesives, beverage clarification, catalysts, cleaning products, textiles & fabrics, gel & AGM batteries and water treatment.
This product is known as colloidal silica nanoparticles with the particle size between 15-25 nm. Silica concentration is approximately 30 Wt. % in it.
The main advantage of nano silica is its high specific surface area in compared to micro silica which causes greater interactions in used environment. Silica particles are stabilized easily in nano-dimension which leads to formation more stable colloids.
Don not use cast iron and carbon steel for storing this product. In order to clean the container, follow the brochure. Keep it at the temperatures between 5 to 35 ℃.
Since colloidal silica products consist of amorphous silica and water, they rank as one of the most environmentally-friendly, industrial chemical products. Colloidal silica does not usually present a problem. If you get colloidal silica in your eyes, rinse immediately with water. If problems persist, seek medical attention.
It should be noted that there are limited investigations on safety of nanoproducts because of their new history.
It is available in plastic containers 25 Kg and barrels 250 Kg.
