Pitfield Testwork Produces Uncoated Rutile TiO2 Pigment
Empire Metals reported that product-development work on material from its Pitfield project in Western Australia has produced an uncoated rutile titanium dioxide pigment.
The company said optimized hydrolysis and calcination converted the contained titanium dioxide to rutile. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that the contained TiO2 was in the rutile form.
The sample measured 97.6% TiO2, with sulfur accounting for approximately 0.65%. Empire said the result equates to approximately 99.2% TiO2 when corrected for the sulfur content.
Further work is aimed at reducing remaining impurities and completing surface treatment and pigment-finishing steps. The company said its development program ultimately targets specifications for architectural-paint applications.
The result represents an intermediate development step rather than a finished commercial architectural-grade pigment.
New TiO2 resources and processing routes could eventually add sourcing options for coatings formulators, but pigment finishing and application performance remain critical development steps. Explore more PCI coverage of paint and coating pigments.
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