All interactions between solids and their surroundings take place at so-called interfaces. What happens here defines all of the important aspects of life, from the smallest cell membrane right up to the biospheric interface between life on our planet and the rest of the universe.
It goes without saying that the Minerals & Surfaces research group is primarily interested in the behavior of calcium carbonate and other mineral particles in varied applications. Traditionally, the focus here was on plastics, coatings, paints and paper – industries in which huge quantities of calcium carbonate were and continue to be used as fillers or pigments. Nowadays, there are many new applications that place particular demands on our products and have led to many new developments in the field. One of the most important of these is the development of highly porous functional calcium carbonates, which have opened up a whole range of new applications.
Our inventory of equipment allows us to follow all of the steps in the working process, from raw stone right up to the finest ground products. This also includes their comprehensive colloidal characterization. Alternatively, we also have reactors of all sizes for carrying out precipitation or recrystallization. Our PCC (precipitated calcium carbonate) research mainly takes place in Gummern, Austria.
Our developments are created in close contact with the application-specific teams and departments at Omya – and ultimately with our customers from all over the world.