Tronox’s Specialty Products Offer Stronger Performance in Glass

There has been a fascination with glass for centuries. In its simplest form, glass is just made of silica, the main component of sand, and has been described as a solid, inorganic, transparent or translucent material that is hard but brittle at the same time.

Over the years, the glass industry has been a leader in innovation, developing new products by adding other materials to change the appearance or physical properties of glass. To improve its bulk and surface properties, specialty TiO₂ and its precursors (such as TiCl₄) can be added. In addition to its hardness which can improve the scratch resistance of glass, TiO₂’s refractive index allows mid- to high-index lenses to be thinner. Additionally, TiO₂ can be applied to glass in order to make it self-cleaning (photocatalysis) or anti-reflective.

Today, you can already find Tronox’s specialty products in various glass materials, such as bottles, ophthalmic lenses, vitro-ceramics, smartphone or laptop screens, and self-cleaning windshields.

At our Thann, France plant, production is made up of three distinct product lines that all manufacture commercial products used in the glass industry. We offer specialty anatase with purity and particle sizes as needed by the specific application, photocatalytic ultrafine TiO₂ colloidal suspensions with different pH and concentrations, and titanium chemical products like TiCl₄, a precursor to make TiO₂ in-situ as part of the glass coating process.

We work closely with partners to develop new products to meet the future requirements for this ever-evolving industry. For more information, contact us at https://www.cristalactiv.com/contact/