Brief history of zinc oxide development and application fields

Physicochemical properties of zinc oxide

Physical properties

Appearance and properties: white powder or hexagonal crystals. Odorless, tasteless, and non-sandy. It turns yellow when heated, and turns white again after cooling, and sublimates when heated to 1800°C. The hiding power is half that of titanium dioxide and zinc sulfide. The tinting strength is twice that of basic lead carbonate.

Solubility: soluble in acid, concentrated alkali hydroxide, ammonia and ammonium salt solution, insoluble in water and ethanol.

Chemical nature

Zinc oxide is a famous white pigment, commonly known as zinc white. Its advantage is that it does not become black when it encounters H2S gas, because ZnS is also white. When heated, ZnO gradually changes from white and light yellow to lemon yellow. When it cools, the yellow fades away. Using this characteristic, it can be mixed into paint or added to a thermometer to make a color-changing paint or a color-changing thermometer. Because ZnO has astringency and certain bactericidal ability, it is often used as an ointment in medicine. ZnO can also be used as a catalyst.

Chemical reaction formula:

React with NaOH: ZnO+2NaOH+H2O=Na2[Zn(OH)4]

A brief history of zinc oxide development

Humans have learned to use zinc oxide as paint or topical medicine for a long time, but it is difficult to trace the history of the discovery of zinc oxide by humans.

As early as 200 BC, the Romans learned to make brass by reacting copper with zinc ore containing zinc oxide. Zinc oxide is converted into zinc vapor in the shaft furnace and rolled into the flue to react. Dioscorides also introduced this.

Beginning in the 12th century AD, Indians got to know zinc and zinc mines and began to smelt zinc in primitive ways. Zinc smelting technology was introduced to China in the 17th century. In 1743, Bristol, England, established the first zinc smelting plant in Europe.

Another main use of zinc oxide is as a paint. In 1834, it became a watercolor paint for the first time, but it is hardly soluble in oil. But soon the problem was solved by the new zinc oxide production process. In 1845, Leclerc began mass production of zinc white oil paints in Paris. By 1850, zinc oxide became popular throughout Europe. The purity of zinc oxide is so high that at the end of the 19th century, some artists painted zinc white as a base color. However, these paintings showed cracks after a hundred years.

In the second half of the 20th century, zinc oxide was mostly used in the rubber industry. In the 1970s, the second major use of zinc oxide was copy paper additives, but in the 21st century, the use of zinc oxide as copy paper additives has been eliminated.

A research team led by Professor Morihiko Nakamura from Shimane University synthesized zinc oxide particles with a diameter of about 10 nanometers, and made the particles have the characteristics of fluorescent substances through special treatment. This kind of nano-particles emit light relatively stable, and the luminescence time can last for more than 24 hours, but the production cost is less than one percent of the green fluorescent protein.

Overview of zinc oxide ZnO powder

Zinc oxide ZnO powder is a famous white pigment, commonly known as zinc white. Its advantage is that it will not turn black in the presence of H2S gas, because ZnS is also white. When heated, ZnO gradually changes from white and light yellow to lemon yellow. After cooling, the yellow color will gradually disappear. Using this feature, it can be mixed into paint or added to a thermometer to make a color-changing paint or thermometer. Because zinc oxide has astringency and a certain sterilization ability, it is often used as an ointment in medicine. ZnO can also be used as a catalyst. Zinc oxide ZnO is used as an additive in many materials and products, including cosmetics, food supplements, rubber, plastics, ceramics, glass, cement, lubricants, paints, ointments, adhesives, sealants, pigments, food, batteries, Ferrite, flame retardant, and most importantly-adhesive tape.

Application of zinc oxide ZnO powder

1. It is mainly used as a reinforcing agent and activator in the rubber or cable industry, as a colorant and filler for white glue, and as a vulcanizing agent in chloroprene rubber.

2. Used for fine desulfurization of feed gas in the fertilizer industry

3. Mainly used as white pigment, rubber vulcanization activator, organic synthesis catalyst, desulfurization agent, used in xerography, pharmacy, etc.

4. Used for desulfurization of synthetic ammonia, petroleum and natural gas chemical raw materials

5. Used as a matrix for analysis reagents, reference reagents, fluorescent agents and photosensitive materials

6. Used for electrostatic wet copying, dry transfer, laser fax communication, electronic computer electrostatic recording, electrostatic plate-making documents

7. Used in the plastic industry, sunscreen cosmetics, special ceramic products, special functional coatings and textile sanitary processing, etc.

8. It is widely used in the deep desulfurization purification process of industrial raw gas and oil products such as synthetic ammonia, methanol, hydrogen production, etc.

9. Used as an astringent, used to make ointments or plasters

10. Used as a white pigment, used in printing and dyeing, papermaking, matches and pharmaceutical industries. In the rubber industry, it is used as a vulcanization activator, reinforcing agent and coloring agent for natural rubber, synthetic rubber and latex. It is also used to make zinc chrome yellow, zinc acetate, zinc carbonate, zinc chloride and other pigments. In addition, it is also used to manufacture electronic laser materials, phosphors, feed additives, catalysts and magnetic materials, as a zinc supplement in feed processing.

11. Inorganic white pigment. The tinting strength is not as good as titanium dioxide and lithopone. It is widely used for the coloring of ABS resin, polystyrene, epoxy resin, phenolic resin, amino resin and polyvinyl chloride, as well as the coloring of paints and inks. In addition, it can also be used as a vulcanization activator, reinforcing agent and coloring agent for rubber in the rubber industry. It is also used in the production of varnished cloth, cosmetics, enamel, paper, leather, matches, cables, etc. It can also be used in printing and dyeing, glass industry, pharmaceutical industry, etc. It is also used as a desulfurizer for ammonia synthesis. It is also used as electronic laser material, fluorescent powder, feed additive, magnetic material manufacturing, etc.

12. Nutritional supplements (zinc fortifiers).

13. Zinc oxide is a nutrient fortifier of feed.

14. Mainly used as a reinforcing agent for rubber or cables, so that the rubber has good corrosion resistance, tear resistance and elasticity. It is also used as a vulcanization activator for natural rubber, a colorant and filler for white rubber, and a vulcanizing agent for neoprene. Smaller particles (about 0.1μm in diameter) can be used as light stabilizers for plastics such as polyolefin or polyvinyl chloride.

15. Used for desulfurization of synthetic ammonia feed gas.

16. It is used as the filler of paint and rubber, and used in medicine to make ointment, zinc paste, tape and so on.

17. It is suitable for use as a zinc supplement in feed processing.

18. Mainly used as white pigment, rubber vulcanization activator, reinforcing agent, organic synthesis catalyst, desulfurizer.

19. Used for the desulfurization of synthetic ammonia, petroleum and natural gas chemical raw materials.

20. Used as a matrix for analysis reagents, reference reagents, fluorescent agents and photosensitive materials.

21. It is mainly used as a reinforcing agent and activator in the rubber or cable industry, as a colorant and filler in white rubber, and as a vulcanizing agent in chloroprene rubber.

22. Shimane University in Japan developed luminescent zinc oxide nanoparticles. Zinc oxide is often used in the production of baby powder and other products. It is a non-toxic inorganic substance. The human body will not produce rejection reaction to it, so it has high safety. In addition, zinc oxide nanoparticles are small in size and have the advantage of not hindering cell activity.

Zinc oxide ZnO powder price

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