Wollastonite (fdcc1a36-db30-4747-8941-1f59d6044aa1)

Wollastonite, named after W.H. Wollaston, an English chemist and mineralogist, is a calcium metasilicate having the chemical formula CaSiO2. Although it is a unique mineral, wollastonite has a short history of industrial use. Wollastonite is the only naturally occurring, nonmetallic, white acicular mineral. Its acicularity is the main reason for its ascendancy in the late 1970s and 1980s as a reinforcing filler and as a replacement for short-fiber asbestos and short-fiber milled fiberglass. Wollastonite is used in applications ranging from bowling balls to automobile fenders, from ceramic tile to automobile brakes, and from thermal insulation board to protective industrial coatings. The United States is the largest producer of wollastonite, with China, India, and Finland as the other three major sources. The United States, Europe, and the Far East are where most of the production is consumed. Geology Mineralogy and Physical and Chemical Properties Wollastonite, a member of the pyroxenoid mineral group, has the theoretical composition of 48.3% CaO and 51.7% SiO2. Iron, manganese, magnesium, or strontium may substitute for some of the calcium. Commonly associated minerals include garnet, diopside, calcite, quartz, epidote, apatite, and sphene. Some of the physical properties of wollastonite are listed in [Table 1]. Wollastonite is largely chemically inert; however, it can be decomposed in concentrated hydrochloric acid. Some wollastonite will fluoresce under shortwave or longwave ultraviolet light, or both, with colors ranging from pink-orange to yellow-orange and, more rarely, bluish green. In addition, wollastonite may show phos¬phorescence. Because of its unique cleavage properties wollastonite breaks down during crushing and grinding into lath-like or needle-shaped particles of varying acicularity. This particle morphology imparts high strength and is therefore of considerable importance in many of the markets for wollastonite. The acicularity of particles is defined by their length:width, or length:diameter, ratio (i.e., aspect ratio). Individual particles, even the smallest ones, commonly ex¬hibit an aspect ratio of 7:1 or 8:1 and have an average diameter of 3.5 gm. Low aspect ratio products (powder wollastonite, or milled grades) with 3:1 to 5:1 aspect ratios are used as general fillers, in ceramics, and in metallurgical fluxing. High aspect ratio products with ratios of 15:1 to 20:1 are used as functional fillers for rein¬forcing thermoplastic and thermoset polymer compounds and as a replacement for asbestos. The dry brightness and whiteness of wollastonite are also important in determining its suitability for certain filler and ceramic applications. When pure, the mineral is brilliantly white, but impurities may color it cream or gray. Brightness is determined by measuring the reflectance of finely ground powder against a stan¬dard that is assigned a brightness of 100. Magnesium oxide and barium sulfate are the two standards used. G.E. brightness, a term used in North America, refers to brightness measured with a Gen¬eral Electric reflectometer. Commercial wollastonite products usu¬ally have a G.E. brightness ranging from 85 to 95. The Hunter method is also used to measure the brightness of wollastonite. Loss on ignition (LOI), another important property in determining applications for wollastonite, is the amount of volatile matter driven off when the mineral is heated to 1 000°C. Com¬mercial wollastonite products have an ignition loss ranging from 0.5 to 2.0%. Wollastonite's naturally high pH of 9.9 (10% water slurry) is of major importance to its use in the coatings industry. Coatings formulators use milled grades as a pH stabilizer in interior and exterior PVA (polyvinyl acetate) and acrylic latex paints. There are two polymorphs of calcium silicate: wollastonite, a low-temperature form, and pseudowollastonite, a high-temperature form. Conversion of wollastonite to pseudowollastonite occurs at about 1 120°C and results in an increase in the coefficient of expansion and a color change. Pure white wollastonite may change to a cream tint or to various shades of red or brown. This color change is thought to be due to the presence of iron and/or strontium.