The precipitation of titanium dioxide is a crucial process in the manufacturing of this important industrial material. Titanium dioxide is a white pigment that is widely used in various industries, such as paints, coatings, plastics, and cosmetics, due to its excellent opacity, brightness, and UV resistance.
This article discusses the discovery of phosphorescent lithopone on watercolor drawings by American artist John La Farge dated between 1890 and 1905 and the history of lithopone in the pigment industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite having many desirable qualities for use in white watercolor or oil paints, the development of lithopone as an artists’ pigment was hampered by its tendency to darken in sunlight. Its availability to, and adoption by, artists remain unclear, as colormen's trade catalogs were generally not explicit in describing white pigments as containing lithopone. Further, lithopone may be mistaken for lead white during visual examination and its short-lived phosphorescence can be easily missed by the uninformed observer. Phosphorescent lithopone has been documented on only one other work-to-date: a watercolor by Van Gogh. In addition to the history of lithopone's manufacture, the article details the mechanism for its phosphorescence and its identification aided by Raman spectroscopy and spectrofluorimetry.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded that titanium oxide should not be considered safe as a food additive, due to uncertainties about possible inflammation and neurotoxicity (9Trusted Source).
Inner wall coating factories are continuously working to develop new and improved coatings that meet the growing demand for eco-friendly and sustainable productsMexican researchers sought to evaluate the effects of E171 across a span of conditions in mice, including its influence on behavior, along with the effects on the colon and liver. The research, published in 2020 in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, showed that E171 promoted anxiety and induced adenomas, or noncancerous tumors, in the colon. They also found that E171 heightened goblet cells hypertrophy and hyperplasia, which is typically seen in asthma patients and triggered by smoking or external pollutants and toxins. They also noted mucins overexpression in the mice, which can be linked to cancer cell formation.
The primary factor that affects the price of titanium dioxide is its production method. There are two main methods for producing titanium dioxide the chloride process and the sulfate process. The chloride process involves heating ilmenite ore in a furnace to produce titanium tetrachloride, which is then purified and reduced to titanium metal. This method produces high-quality titanium dioxide with a low impurity level, making it more expensive than the sulfate process. The purified titanium ore is then subjected to the chloride process, which is the most common method for producing titanium dioxide powder. In this process, the ore is reacted with chlorine gas and hydrogen to produce titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4). The TiCl4 is then purified and oxidized in a furnace at high temperatures to produce titanium dioxide powder. The production of titanium dioxide traditionally involves processes that can be energy-intensive and potentially harmful to the environment. However, leading manufacturers have embraced cleaner technologies such as the chloride process, which yields high-purity TiO2 while significantly reducing waste and emissions. By utilizing this method, factories can minimize the release of contaminants and conserve resources more effectively than older techniques.Asia
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Although the evidence for general toxic effects was not conclusive, on the basis of the new data and strengthened methods our scientists could not rule out a concern for genotoxicity and consequently they could not establish a safe level for daily intake of TiO2 as a food additive.
Another important property of nano titanium dioxide is its high level of UV resistance. This makes it an excellent choice for use in sunscreen and other skincare products, as it can help protect the skin from the harmful effects of the sun. Our manufacturing facilities are equipped with the latest technology to ensure that our nano titanium dioxide products provide the highest level of UV protection possible.
It’s particularly useful in sunscreen as it has impressive UV resistance and helps block the sun’s UVA and UVB rays from reaching your skin (6Trusted Source).