MATERIALS | MINERAL FILLERS
Improved co-operation is the key to unlocking potential of fillers
Many smaller producers of minerals would be happy to work with plastics compounders on new uses for their materials – if they could only find the right door to knock on. That is the view of Ted Dickson, who runs the TAK Industrial Mineral Consultancy, and who spoke at the AMI Functional Fillers Virtual Summit.
He listed no fewer than 26 minerals mined commercially around the world, but said that, for some, use in polymers is limited. “The supplier has to get it right on the grades, but they don’t always know what compounders want,” he says. “It’s not always just
about fine grinding. The solution may involve a mix of coarse and fine particles, or possibly blends of
different minerals: kaolin and CaCO3 mixes may work, for example.” What many mineral producers lack is insight into the compounders’ specific requirements. “Smaller mineral companies would be happy for plastics companies to come to them to discuss new applications, especially if they reckon they can get a premium product without having to invest heavily in equipment and other resources to get there. Adding a bit of extra processing is not necessarily
oolitic aragonite. She says that while most calcium carbonates from overground mines look like building blocks (with a rhombohedral crystalline morphology) under a microscope, oolitic aragonite looks more like interlaced needles (orthorhombic). An advantage of this is that it has a higher surface area combined with a high electron charge (see Table 1). “These important differences translate to a number of benefits for a variety of industries, including plastics,” she says. Oolitic aragonite is claimed to enhance physical
properties such as stiffness, impact, and heat distortion temperatures. Studies are also being carried out to explore its effectiveness as a nucleat- ing agent. Pat Lahmann, who heads up Nant Bioplastics, a compounding and moulding com- pany affiliated with Calcean, says it is possible to fill compounds with higher loadings of oolitic aragonite than regular calcium carbonate. Some compounds being beta tested contain more than 60% filler. Nant Bioplastics, which was founded in 2019,
produces compounds containing oolitic aragonite for third parties and also for its own moulding operation ( this concentrates on products for the single-service food industry – straws, cutlery, thermo- formed plates and the like – based on bioplastics such as PLA). At present it has a compounding capacity of around 2,700 tonnes/yr. Lahmann says it is currently getting ready to build new facilities on the east coast and possibly also the west coast of the US. “We are looking to expand milling and bioplas- tics activities significantly,” he says.
22 COMPOUNDING WORLD | June 2021
that difficult. Small tweaks may be all that is needed.” Dickson sees considerable un- tapped potential in engineering minerals due to lack of communica- tion. “There are so many smaller compounders and masterbatchers, and minerals companies often don’t have large sales and marketing forces,” he says. A good place to start for any compounder looking to connect could be a trade association web site like the Industrial Mineral Associations in Europe and North America. �
www.ima-europe.eu �
www.ima-na.org
Diversified move
Other companies understood to be involved in either mining or milling oolitic aragonite include mineral suppliers Asbury Carbons and Kish Company (through its affiliate Arctic Minerals). Asbury Carbons calls its product CarboRay, which it offers with particle sizes from 750 microns and finer. The company is probably best known to compounders as a world leading producer of graphite nanoplatelets. Explaining the move into oolitic aragonite, Jeffrey Julian, Director of Market- ing and Product Management, says: “There is value in diversification, so we strive to grow and diversify our engineered product offerings…Asbury’s CarboRay products offer a crush strength that is twelve times that of conventional calcium carbon- ate, so its use would be for two purposes: for strength and as a filling agent. Additionally, many eco-conscious customers will find our CarboRay products quite appealing as a biogenic alternative to standard calcium carbonate fillers.” Julian says CarboRay products are expected to find a good fit in some of the company’s top markets globally. “This product line is new to us, so we’re still in the process of growing it both within the US and internationally. Asbury obtains its raw material from Pisa
Carolina, which was founded in 2018 in Fairfield, North Carolina, US. It supplies oolitic sand acquired through a licensed Bahamian supplier, Tycoon Management Ltd (TML), which has access to several deposits. Pisa Carolina COO Jayson Meyers
www.compoundingworld.com
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