Applications
- Solar panels
- Semiconductors and Electronics
- Aluminum and steel alloys
- Construction industry
Quartz
Quartz is one of the most common and well-known minerals on the planet. Best known as the principal constituent of glass, quartz offers multiple other uses ranging from construction granulates to solar panels. It is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silicon and oxygen atoms and the second most abundant mineral in the planet’s crust, after the feldspar family of minerals.
Quartz is a defining constituent of granite and other felsic igneous rocks. It is common in sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and shale as well as schist, gneiss, quartzite and other metamorphic rocks.
Physical Properties:
- Hard (7 on Mohs scale)
- Chemically inert
- Thermal stability
- Electrical properties
Related products
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Ceramic Raw Materials
Wollastonite
Wollastonite is a naturally occurring mineral which is a chemical combination of Calcium, Silicon and Oxygen. Wollastonite is formed when limestone or other high-calcium rocks undergo high temperature and pressure changes sometimes in the presence of silica-bearing fluids such as in skarns or contact metamorphic rocks.
This highly versatile mineral is characterized by its high whiteness, unique needle-like, or ‘acicular’, structure, high brightness, low moisture and oil absorption, and high heat stability.
Physical Properties:
- High brightness
- Low moisture and oil absorption
- Low water solubility
- High pH
- Low volatile content
- High melting point
- Medium hardness (4.5 on Mohs’ scale)
- Thermal stability
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Ceramic Raw Materials
Kaolin
Kaolin is a rock from which the clay mineral kaolinite is derived. This one has been used for millennia as the principal ingredient in porcelain tableware. It is a hydrated aluminum silicate crystalline mineral formed over many millions of years by the hydrothermal decomposition of granite rocks.
Physical Properties:
- High brightness
- Non abrasive
- Naturally fine particles
- Refractory, remains white after calcination
- Weak conductivity (heat and electricity)
- Hydrophilic and easily dispersed in water
