Usage areas of Titanium dioxide

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a food colorant known by the food additive code E171. Titanium dioxide, used as a colorant, is also known as titanium white.

Crude TiO2 is obtained by purification of titanium tetrachloride. This process is carried out in two types sulfate and chlorine processes. Commercial TiO2 is not pure, it is a synthetic pigment. The biggest expense in the purchasing budgets of paint manufacturers is titanium dioxide. Its use is predominantly in building/construction (50% of purchase) and industrial (30% of purchase) paints. It is used less frequently in automotive and furniture paints.

Titanium dioxide is the most widely used white pigment in the world. Only diamonds have a greater refractive index than titanium dioxide. The refractive index is a measure of the bending ability of light. In this way, opacity and covering ability are provided. Only magnesium oxide is whiter than TiO2. However, the refractive index of this material is much lower than that of titanium dioxide. This means that much more magnesium oxide is required to achieve the desired opacity. Therefore, in practice, TiO2 is preferred.

Usage areas

• In addition to its use as a food colorant, it is also used in the production of paint and sun lotion.
• It is widely used because it effectively scatters visible light and imparts whiteness, gloss, and opacity to paints and coatings.
• In the food sector, TiO2 is used in many white products such as candies, chewing gum, baking powder, and white chickpeas.
• Provided that the most important function of TiO2 is pigment, it can be used in both paint and coating as well as plastic, paper, ink, fiber, medicine (in pills and tablets), food, and cosmetic products; It provides brightness, whiteness, and opacity.
• Thanks to this feature, TiO2 is used as a white color for surface coating, to separate layers in products, and as a whitening agent in toothpaste.
• Titanium dioxide is a mineral that is also used in cosmetics as a thickener, whitener, lubricant, and sunscreen agent.
• It protects the skin from UVA and UVB radiation and has no risk of irritating the skin. The most common use of the catalytic effect of light, namely photocatalysis, is the cleaning of environmental pollution. Thus, when light and suitable material are brought together, the cleaning process occurs by itself.
• During the day, the UV emission around us is around one milliwatt per square centimeter. In the light we use inside the buildings, this rate drops to one in a thousand. The cleaning process begins when even UV radiation at this rate comes together with titanium dioxide in a suitable structure. However, the structures of titanium dioxide used for the photocatalytic effect and those used in the paint, cosmetics, and food industries are different. The photocatalytic effect of titanium dioxide is in the form of breaking down the organics it comes into contact with when it comes together with light. When this situation is used in a positive sense, it means the destruction of unwanted organics (dirt, microbes, bacteria, odor, and harmful organic chemicals) in the air, water, and various surfaces around us.