September 23, 2024 – The Nanning Municipal Science and Technology Bureau in Guangxi has recently unveiled the list of approved projects under the 2024 “Yongjiang Plan” for young talents, among which Guangxi Huanuo New Material Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as “Huanuo Materials”) stands out with its project titled “Research and Development of Zinc Oxide-Coated Calcium Carbonate Functional Materials.”
Amidst the multifaceted challenges of resource scarcity, environmental pressures, and escalating production costs, the zinc oxide industry is actively exploring new avenues for the development of low-zinc, high-efficiency, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly active zinc oxide materials. According to industry research, the adoption of an innovative CaCO3@ZnO core-shell structure technology can maintain performance comparable to solid ZnO particles while reducing the amount of zinc oxide used, thus pointing the way forward for the industry.
Huanuo Materials’ selected project centers on the research and development of a novel zinc oxide-coated calcium carbonate core-shell structured nanomaterial. Specifically, the technological process encompasses three crucial steps: initially, selecting calcium carbonate powder with a particle size ranging from 80nm to 500nm as the core material, combining a zinc source and urea as precipitating agents to generate a suspension of CaCO3@Zn(OH)2 core-shell nanomaterials under hydrothermal reaction conditions; subsequently, the obtained suspension undergoes static settlement, filtration, washing, and drying; finally, through a calcination step, the CaCO3@ZnO core-shell nanomaterials are obtained. According to insights from the Color Masterbatch Industry Network, in the composite materials prepared by this technology, the surface of calcium carbonate is completely covered by zinc oxide, which exhibits a linear-flake morphology, demonstrating excellent coating effects. Furthermore, this preparation method is simple and easy to implement, facilitating large-scale production and holding significant importance for conserving zinc resources.