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The photo shows natural Indian muscovite. The biggest one is 2cm thickness
and 50cm width. In our office, a huge muscovite 0,5cm thickness and 100cm
width is decorated on the wall. There would be no other minerals than mica
which grows so vastly in planar direction.
The mica ore used for industrial purposes mostly are mined in India following
China, Canada, Finland and Brazil. The crystal size and purity depend greatly
on its mining site and the application differs respectively. |
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| Indian Muscovite |
The important characteristics of mica is that the crystalline structure
forms layers that can be easily split or delaminated into thin sheets due
to its elasticity. These sheets, usually semi-transparent or tinted through
green or brown, can be easily cut off with scissors or a cutter. It is
electrically and thermally stable.
Mica is indispensable for our daily life and used in various industries
today. However, it has been just three decades since was widely accepted
in diverse equipment.
As an industrial material, plate or ground mica is popular. Platy mica has a long history in which was used as a vibration plate in the microphone in the late 19th century and this development resulted in a wide spread of telephones. In the beginning of 20th century, it was replaced with glasses of the bridge-spacer in electronic valves and enabled mass-production of the electronic valves. Sheet mica, is also used in many industries, such as heat-resistant insulating material, condenser and stove heater windows, etc. For these applications, natural sheet mica had long been used, however sheet-like mica that is made from ground mica bonded with resin is commonly used in heat-resistant insulating materials in recent years.
Nowadays mica powder is finding increasing use in equipment as an inorganic
powder which provides excellent physical properties and functions to materials.
It is also added in foundations in order to improve the texture of cosmetics.
As a functional filler, it is used in plastics and paints in automotive,
electronic and architectural industries.
In automotive industry, a pigment named pearl mica is often used for paint
which is coated with oxidized film (ex. oxidized titanium, etc.) different
in reflective index. Another example shows that color mica which is composed
of 1-mm colored mica grains is used as color flakes in synthetic marble
stones.
Mica will go forward with the development of industries in the future.
The table below shows the major industries using mica powders. |
| Industries |
Effect |
| Cosmetics |
To improve texture, to provide luster, to prevent caking |
| Plastics |
To improve rigidity and heat-resistance, To reduce warpage and shrinkage,
To provide vibration suppression and barrier |
| Paint |
Anti-corrosion, waterproof, To reduce coating shrinkage, To provide vibration
suppression, To improve heat-resistance |
| Rubber |
To improve hardness and heat-resistance, To provide vibration suppression,
To improve heat-resistance and performance of mold release |
| Ceramics |
To improve performance of mold release and fire-proof of building boards,
To provide machinability |
| Others |
Base material of pearl mica, color grains of synthetic marbles |
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| Copyright 2012 by YAMAGUCHI MICA CO.,LTD. All rights reserved. |
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