MINERAL FILLERS | ADDITIVES
Formulating with minerals and alternative materials
Minerals serve as functional fillers in plastic compounds. New alternatives offer reduced carbon footprint with lightweighting or property enhancement. By Jennifer Markarian
Functional fillers include different types of materials used at higher loading levels in plastics com- pounds – from approximately 5% up to more than 70% – to both add a functional property and to replace a portion of the polymer. Some fillers, such as antimony oxide (ATO), magnesium dihydroxide (MDH) and aluminum trihydrate (ATH), are used specifically to provide a flame-retardant function. Supply-chain challenges with ATO are currently causing upheaval, as formulators scramble to find and validate alternatives. Flame retardant fillers will be discussed in more detail in the December issue of Compounding World. Besides flame retardancy, other functional properties provided by reinforcing fillers include stiffness and dimensional stability. Historically, using functional fillers as polymer
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replacement was typically a cost-savings move, but today it can also be viewed as adding sustainability or, in some cases, reducing carbon footprint. Fillers can include plant-based materials (see Compound- ing World May issue), mined or synthetic minerals, or other materials, such as glass microspheres. A combination of mineral technologies and compounding process development allows users to maximise filler load to reduce compound cost and improve properties, said John Poulakis, Global Business Development Director at Magris Talc, which runs three talc mines and six milling opera- tions in North America. The company’s proprietary jet-milling process produces fine particle sizes of macro and microcrystalline talc that maintain lamellarity, explained Poulakis.
Main image: Calcium carbonate is a widely-used mineral in functional fillers
June 2025 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 13
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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