Sibelite

Improved whiteness and hiding power with

Sibelite functional fillers
Whiteness and dry hiding power are key features of decorative
paints, especially matt wall paints. The main raw material
influencing these parameters is titanium dioxide (TiO2), but
the fillers used can also make a significant difference. In
this work Sibelco has evaluated three of its Sibelite fillers
against commonly used ground calcium carbonate fillers in a
premium decorative wall paint formulation with the objective
to evaluate optical properties.

Materials and Figure 1 SEM image of a Sibelite® grain

Formulations Specific Gravity 2.35

Mohs Hardness 6.5
Sibelite Chemistry and Morphology Oil Abs g/100g
n
27
pH 9
Cristobalite is a high temperature polymorph of quartz which Whiteness (L*) 98
forms at temperatures above 1470 ºC. It was first discovered
Table 1 Physical properties of Sibelite®
in volcanic deposits, but is now produced commercially by
calcination of high purity quartz followed by iron free grinding
and air classification (Figure 1). Formulation

Sibelite has many benefits as a filler (Table 1). The calcination
process changes the crystalline structure of the quartz to a
more open ring structure giving cristobalite a lower specific
gravity of 2.35 (compare quartz 2.65). At the same time
there is a large increase in brightness - cristobalite has one
of the highest brightnesses of any mineral with an L* value
of 98. This combination of high brightness and low density
make it an ideal filler for decorative coatings.
Cristobalite is also hard, chemically inert and acid resistant.
It is easy to disperse and does not increase viscosity making
it ideal for high solids coatings
Sibelite is available in a wide range of particle sizes. For this
work the following grades were tested:
Sibelite M3500 – D50 11µm
Sibelite M6000 – D50 4 µm
Sibelite M8000 – D50 1.8µm
For reference three grades of calcium carbonate were also
tested with a nominal D50 of 10, 5 and 2µm substituted by
volume. The fillers were tested in a high quality waterborne
wall paint based on a pure acrylic binder. The total PVC was
50% with TiO2 at 12% by volume and the test filler at 28%
by volume. Full details are given in Table 2.

V.08.2014
 Grind Base Formulation / pbw
Water 148.8 137.0 62.5 137.0 137.0 192.9
Disperant 17.9 17.9 17.9 17.9 17.9 17.9
Antifoam 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4
Thickener 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3
TiO2 140.0 140.0 140.0 140.0 140.0 140.0
Talc 70.0 70.0 70.0 70.0 70.0 70.0
Test Fillers

Sibelite® M8000 186.0

Sibelite® M6000 186.0
Sibelite M3500
®
186.0
10µm GCC 214.0
5µm GCC 214.0
2µm GCC 214.0
Let down

Binder 360.0 360.0 360.0 360.0 360.0 360.0

Co-Solvent 13.4 13.4 13.4 13.4 13.4 13.4
Thickener 14.9 14.9 14.9 14.9 14.9 14.9
Water 43.4 55.9 130.4 55.9 55.9 0.0
Total 999.1 999.8 999.8 1027.8 1027.8 1027.8

Table 2 Detailed test formulations

The coatings were drawn down onto a Leneta No. 2 card Contrast ratio was measured as the ratio of the Y brightness
with a Bird type applicator to give a wet film thickness of of the black section to the Y brightness of the white section.
150µm and allowed to dry for one week. Brightness was Gloss was measured at 85°.
measured as the L* value of the white section of the card.

Results and Discussion

The results are summarised in Table 3 and discussed in further detail in the sections below.

Filler L* Brightness Contrast Ratio / % 85° Gloss

Sibelite M8000
®
96.3 96.5 17.8

Sibelite M6000
®
96.1 96.3 7.6

Sibelite® M3500 95.8 95.0 2.1

2µm GCC 95.6 94.7 11.3

5µm GCC 95.6 94.8 4.8

10µm GCC 95.7 94.9 4.6

Table 3 Summary of results

Brightness
The coatings prepared with Sibelite fillers all have a higher
brightness than the corresponding GCC based coating
(Figure 2). Although this difference is negligible for the
coarse grade M3500 a useful improvement in brightness is
gained with the finer grades.
Gloss
Figure 4 shows the relative gloss levels for Sibelite and
GCC. M8000 has a somewhat higher gloss than 2µm GCC,
M6000 is relatively similar to 5µm GCC and the coarsest
grade M3500 has a lower gloss level than the equivalent
sized GCC. It is felt this wider range of gloss levels allows
final gloss of the paint to be optimised while still retaining
other qualities such as brightness and hiding power.

Figure 2 Figure 4

Brightness value - Sibelite vs GCC Gloss Level - Sibelite vs GCC

Sibelite Sibelite
97.0 18.0
GCC GCC
96.5 16.0

96.0 14.0
12.0

85° Gloss
95.5
10.0
L* 95.0
8.0
94.5
6.0
94.0
4.0
93.5 2.0
93.0 0.0
Sibelite M8000 Sibelite M6000 Sibelite M3500 Sibelite M8000 Sibelite M6000 Sibelite M3500
2µm GCC 5µm GCC 10µm GCC 2µm GCC 5µm GCC 10µm GCC

Filler Filler

Contrast Ratio
It can be seen in Figure 3 that Sibelite gives superior hiding
Conclusion
power when compared with GCC. This is again more In this work the superior performance of the fine cristobalite
pronounced for the finer grades M6000 and M8000 than extenders Sibelite M6000 and M8000 was clearly
for the coarse grade. M8000 gives the best improvement. demonstrated with respect to hiding power and whiteness
in wall paints. In combination with previous work (Sibelco
TB No. 2 June 2009, Improved Wet Scrub Resistance of
Waterborne Coatings Formulated with Sibelite Functional
Figure 3
Filler) that shows Sibelite produces coatings with very good
Contrast Ratio - Sibelite vs GCC scrub resistance. It shows that Sibelite is a very useful
Sibelite addition to any quality decorative formulation.
97.0
GCC
96.5

96.0
Contrast ratio

95.5

95.0

94.5

94.0

93.5

93.0
Sibelite M8000 Sibelite M6000 Sibelite M3500
2µm GCC 5µm GCC 10µm GCC

Filler
SIBELCO EUROPE
c/o Op de Bos 300, NL-6223 EP Maastricht
P.O. Box 423, NL-6200 AK Maastricht
T + 31 (0)43 3663777, F +31 (0)43 3648272
coatings@sibelco.eu
www.sibelco.eu/coatings Our companies are ISO-certificated