Zirconia silicate beads are used as finishing media in numerous applications such as paints & coatings, ceramic products and adhesives & sealants. Their long life and cost-efficiency make them attractive options compared to alternative finishing media options.
The market for zirconia silica beads can be divided into six main segments, including type, manufacturing process, application size and end use industry.
1. High Density
Zirconia silicate beads feature an increased bulk density than glass ones, meaning that they work at a slower rate and are less likely to shatter during use. Their higher bulk density also enables them to pass through tight spaces easily while being utilized with smaller nozzles for blasting applications.
Ceramic material made by the controlled reduction of high purity zirconia and silica in an electric arc furnace. This material boasts excellent mechanical and thermal properties and has widespread applications in refractory materials, foundry sand production, foundry processes and paint formulations to increase strength and durability.
2. High Strength
Zirconia silicate beads are known to be extremely hard-wearing, capable of withstanding intensive grinding and milling processes without breaking. Their resilience comes from being densely packed thanks to sintering technology; this results in less breakage over time and prolongs their lifespan.
These features make these grinders perfect for processing chemical products that must be free from contamination, such as pharmaceuticals, food, and paints. Ink, pigments, and lighter shades of paints also benefit from milling with these tools; furthermore they can even be used in electronic manufacturing processes due to being resistant to high temperatures.
3. Good Wear Resistant
Zirconium silicate beads are densely packed, meaning they don’t break easily like electro fused zirconia and other media do, plus have half of the wear rate compared to similar materials.
Powdered ingredients undergo slurry processing and ball forming machines before being sent to a kiln for baking. Finally, any misshapen or defective media are selected out so as to guarantee only top-of-the-line zirconium silicate beads reach clients.
4. High Temperature Resistance
Zirconia silicate beads are very durable and resistant to high temperatures, making them suitable for various applications including milling and dispersing paints, inks, coatings and mineral processing.
They can also be used to disrupt a wide array of biological samples. Their 3.7g/cc density facilitates efficient mechanical lysis of difficult materials like spores and tissues, while remaining chemically inert for grinding/milling applications.
5. Excellent Chemical Resistance
Zirconia silicate media are an ideal choice for grinding or dispersing materials that must be free from contamination, such as ink, pigments, lighter paint shades and coatings. Zirconia silicate balls can help achieve this objective while milling ink, pigments, lighter shades of paint or coating materials.
One study examined the effect of alumina and glass bead blasting alone or with various silanes on the bond strength of high translucent yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia. They discovered that using both blasting methods significantly enhanced bond strength to airborne silanes; additionally, thermocycling confirmed stability for their results surface.
6. High Thermal Expansion Coefficient
Zirconia silicate beads offer long-term value and work effectively in both wheel and compressed air systems, offering high quality surface treatment at a reasonable cost compared to glass and alumina beads.
XRD analysis indicates that both glass infiltration techniques allowed for homogeneous zirconia surface infiltration, while sol-gel infiltrated surfaces showed monoclinic phase transformations after aging. Furthermore, glass-infiltrated zirconia had superior interfacial fracture toughness compared to air abraded and sol-gel infiltrated zirconia surfaces.
7. Excellent Thermal Shock Resistance
Zirconia beads used in wet processing equipment such as mills are capable of dispersing materials down to nano or micro scale. Plus, their chemical stability means they won’t react with whatever they come into contact with.
Such properties make them perfect for pharmaceuticals and other products that require precision and consistency, like cosmetics. Plus, they’re easily sterilized and reusable, cutting down waste while helping companies who prioritize environmental sustainability. Plus, prolonged lifespan reduces maintenance and operational costs.
8. Excellent Chemical Resistance
Zirconia silicate beads come in various sizes. Selecting the appropriate media size will enhance your grinding process and help make it cost-effective.
Zirconia silicate stationary phase supports are significantly more stable at elevated column temperatures and in a wider pH range than their traditional silica and polymeric counterparts, providing significant advantages over them.
Zirconia silicate beads are ideal for surface treatments that require long-term solutions, including those used with compressed air systems or wheel systems. Their long lifespan makes them suitable for many different applications ranging from shot peening on metal surfaces and contact lens polishing to shot peening treatment and lens polishing.
9. Excellent Thermal Expansion Coefficient
Zirconia silicate beads boast a density of 3.7 g/cc, making them suitable for mechanical lysis of tough biological samples like spores and tissues, with strong impact resistance properties.
Pure zirconia has a high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), while Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) beads offer much lower and more stable CTE values – meaning they can withstand temperature variations during grinding processes without altering their shape or damaging your machine.
Beads undergo a selection process where the manufacturer removes any misshapen media before being put through a firing kiln to keep their shape.
10. Excellent Chemical Resistance
zirconia stands out from silica as it can withstand wide variations in pH levels, making it suitable for use across an extensive variety of samples and conditions for chromatography applications.
Selecting the ideal zirconia silica beads size for your process is vitally important. Smaller media will cover more surface area but have shorter life cycles.
Zirconia silica beads have many applications in industries like pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, paints and coatings, mineral processing and ceramics. Compatible with IsaMill, Metso Vertimill, HOSOKAWA Agitated Media Mills (AMMs), NETZSCH Bead Mills and Buhler Basket and Bead Mills among other mill types, they make milling more efficient than ever.
English 
Swedish 
Dutch 
Danish 
Finnish 
Norwegian