Talc De Luzenac

Georges Fourty

Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Jouffret

Patrice Monnot

A process for treating a lamella-type mineral in the form of particles constituted of stacks of sheets, in order to obtain a functional filler for a polymer material. The mineral is suspended in a liquid with a predetermined initial particle size, after which the suspension is subjected to a delamination procedure in order to separate the sheet from the particles, and obtain a particle size smaller than the initial particle size. The suspension is then subjected to selection in order to eliminate the particles larger in size than the predetermined size; it is subsequently dried, and the mineral particles are treated so as to restrict the creation amongst them of strong irreversible bonds. The talcum powder obtained can be incorporated into a thermoplastic material as a functional filler in order to increase the flexural modulus in proportions significantly higher than what is obtained with known fillers, without diminishing the shock resistance of the final material (with respect to the values obtained with said known fillers).

Lamellar filler process for the treatment of polymers

Method of incorporation a talcum powder into a material, in particular a thermoplastic material. The method consists in (a) mixing the talcum powder with water and a polyethylene glycol, a polypropylene glycol or a copolymer of these compounds, (b) pressing the mixture through dies and sectioning it to obtain granules of an average size exceeding that of the grains of the initial powder, (c) incorporating in the material the product obtained, (d) subjecting the dispersion to mechanical action to break up the granules and to release and distribute in the mass the grains of the initial powder. The invention is characterized by incorporating small particle-sized talcum powders into materials, especially thermoplastic materials, without the practical problem involved in incorporating small particle-sized powders.

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Toulouse, France

Georges Fourty