What is talc mainly used for?
1.Personal Care & Cosmetics
Talcum powder, with its fine texture, excellent moisture absorption and lubricating properties, is widely used in the personal care field.
Talcum powder (baby powder): Talc can quickly absorb sweat and oil on the skin surface, reduce friction, and prevent diaper rash and heat rash. Many brands (such as Johnson's) have long used talc as the base ingredient, but due to health concerns, some products have switched to cornstarch.
Makeup: In foundations, eyeshadows and blushes, Talcum powder serves as a base ingredient, providing a smooth application feel and enhancing the adhesion and longevity of the makeup. For instance, mineral makeup (such as BareMinerals) relies on high-purity talc to achieve a natural look.
Antiperspirants and soaps: Talcum powder is used as a filler to help control product consistency and assist in moisture absorption in antiperspirants.
2. Pharmaceuticals
Medicine Grade Talc Powder is mainly used as an excipient in the pharmaceutical industry and plays multiple roles:
Tablet filler: During the tablet pressing process, Medicine Grade Talc Powder can increase the volume of the drug powder and ensure uniform dosage (such as in aspirin tablets).
Flowing agent: Medicine Grade Talc Powder Improves the fluidity of powder, making drug particles easier to fill the mold and enhancing production efficiency.
The coating ingredients: The sugar coating or film coating on the outer layer of some tablets may contain Medicine Grade Talc Powder to prevent adhesion and improve appearance.
3. Plastics & Polymers
Plastic Grade Talcum Powder is an extremely cost-effective modified filler in the plastic industry:
Enhanced performance: Adding 5-20% of Plastic Grade Talcum Powder to polypropylene (PP) can significantly improve the material's rigidity, heat resistance, and dimensional stability, making it suitable for automotive dashboards, home appliance shells, and other applications.
Alternative to glass fiber: Compared to glass fiber reinforced plastics, the plastic filled with Plastic Grade Talcum Powder is lighter, easier to process, and has a lower cost.
Film application: Adding Plastic Grade Talcum Powder to polyethylene (PE) films can enhance anti-adhesion properties and breathability, and is used in food packaging bags.
4. Paints & Coatings
Talc in Paints & Coatings plays multiple roles in paints:
Enhance covering power: Talc in Paints & Coatings's sheet-like structure can reflect light, reducing the amount of titanium white pigment used (such as in latex paint) and lowering costs.
Improve workability: Talc in Paints & Coatings Adjust the rheological properties of the coating to prevent dripping during brushing, and enhance the surface smoothness.
Anticorrosion function: In industrial anti-corrosion paints, Talc in Paints & Coatings can fill the micropores and prevent the penetration of moisture and corrosive media (such as marine coatings).