Colloidal Silica: a Versatile and Safe Nanomaterial for Industrial Applications

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There is a very wide range of uses for colloidal silica based products and applications. In the presentation examples will be shown how the inherent basic properties of colloidal silica can be used for a great diversity of industrial applications in the area of papermaking, paints, polishing, chromatography, catalysis, battery etc.

The challenge for innovation is to identify the areas where colloidal silica can play a role delivering cost-efficient solutions to various industries. Examples will be presented where the origin for the innovation can be quite different, i.e. from

1. Curiosity driven research

2.  As a result of business development

3. As a result of customer needs

Colloidal silica, i.e. silica nanoparticles in water dispersions, can relatively easily be produced in the size range 2 – 150 nm as monodisperse or polydisperse particle size distributions. However, in the recent developments the innovations have been based on combinations of tailor made surface modifications and/or particle morphologies.