Quartz

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Quartz (silica, SiO2) is the core mineral within the Sibelco group and can be found in a broad number of applications, such as glass, ceramics and coatings. Quartz can be characterised by:
- Relatively high Mohs hardness of 7
- Low electrical conductivity
- Easy to wet
- High inertness in various media
- Shape (depending on the source, quartz particles can have an angular or more rounded shape).
Note when using quartz:
depending on the particle size distribution of the product, it can be labelled (STOT RE 2 or STOT RE 1). For more detailed information, visit www.safesilica.eu.
Basic properties
Property | Value | Unit |
Moisture | [%] | |
pH | 7 | [-] |
Hardness (Mohs) | 7 | [-] |
Refractive index | 1.55 | [-] |
Colour (D65/ 10°) L* | 93 – 96 | [-] |
L.O.I. | < 0.3 | [%] |
Density | 2.65 | [kg/ dm3] |
Product overview
Coarse | ||||||
product | Grade | D50 | Grade | D50 | D90 | OA |
[µm] | [µm] | [µm] | [g/ 100 g] | |||
Silica sand | M31 | 370 | M6 | 30 | 95 | 16.5 |
M32 | 260 | M10 | 23 | 60 | 17.5 | |
M34 | 170 | M300 | 17 | 40 | 19 | |
M400 | 12 | 26 | 20 | |||
M500 | 4 | 10 | 23 | |||
M600 | 4 | 9 | 24 | |||
M800 | 1.8 | 4.1 | 32 |
Production locations Silica Sand
Silverbond is the brand name for Sibelco’s silica products.
Benefits
- Dirt pick-up resistance: the presence of quartz improves the coating’s resistance to dirt (from the atmosphere, for example).
- Ease of tinting: due to the combination of refractive index, brightness and colour, paints containing fine quartz flour provide excellent reproducible colour results when working with tinting systems.
- Texture effect: the use of coarse quartz grades provide texture to coating surface.
- Tint retention: paints including fine quartz flour show improved tint retention over other minerals when subjected to natural weathering.
- UV resistance and weatherability: due to its inertness, quartz supports good UV and weatherability performance to exterior architectural coatings.
- Block resistance: with its non-stick properties, the use of quartz allows faster stacking of coated substrates without them sticking together.
- Burnish resistance: due to its hardness of 7 on Mohs scale, quartz provides good burnish resistance (low tendency to become glossy when rubbed).
- Gloss control: the gloss level of an interior coating can be regulated by selecting the appropriate grade of quartz.
- Scrub resistance: due to its hardness of 7 on Mohs scale, quartz improves the wet-scrub resistance of interior decorative paints.
- Stain resistance: quartz acts as a supporting mineral filler in stain resistant coatings.
- Abrasion and scratch resistance: due to its fairly high hardness of 7 on Mohs scale, quartz provides abrasion and scratch resistance to the coating.
- Chemical resistance: due to its inert nature, quartz provides good chemical resistance compared to conventional fillers.
- Clarity: due to its fairly low refractive index, fine quartz grades become transparent when combined with certain binder systems.
- UV-curing compatibility: being transparent for UV radiation, fine quartz grades do not block the curing mechanism.
- Skid resistance: coarse quartz grades will give a roughness to the substrate, making it less slippery in general as well as under wet conditions, and provides better visibility in wet conditions.
- IR reflection: quartz contributes to the IR reflection of roof coatings.
- Pore and grain filling properties (sealer): with low impact on the viscosity, quartz can be used as a mineral filler in sealers to give them more body.