Silica pigment produced from silicate mining sidestreams for ink-jet paper coating application

Ink-jet printing technology is expected to continue growing, but cheaper silica pigment formulations than those currently available on the market will be needed for it to be commercially viable. The target of this work, part of the EU FP7 project ProMine, is to study the possibility of generating low-cost silica pigment from silicate mining industry sidestreams for use as a coating pigment for ink-jet paper. The worldwide resources of olivine are abundant and olivine is one of the main minerals in the dunite deposits in Greece. In this study silica is produced from Greek olivine silicate mineral by an acidic dissolution method. The pigment and coating layer properties of produced silica are compared to commercial silica pigments. The laboratory scale study shows that the coating of produced silica pigment has ink-jet ink absorption speed and pore structure close to commercial precipitated silica coating. Produced silica pigment coated papers are matt, having very low gloss. Results show that produced silica pigment has potential for use as matt ink-jet coating pigment.