Ultrafine powder : the unique value and role of the powder industry

What is ultrafine powder?
Ultrafine powder refers to an aggregate composed of a large number of tiny particulate materials. In particular, its common characteristics include having many discontinuous surfaces, a large specific surface area, and being made up of numerous fine particles. As such as the name implies, it is an aggregate of solid particles.

What are the types of powder materials?

• By source and composition:
  Powder materials are classified as inorganic or organic powders. Specifically, inorganic powders include talc, mica, silica, calcium carbonate, barium sulfate, magnesium hydroxide, zinc oxide, feldspar powder, glass powder, silica fume, nano calcium carbonate, nano zinc oxide, and nano silica. In contrast, organic powders include nylon powder and PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate).
• By application field:
  Powder materials are divided into fillers, colorants, and sunscreens. Fillers improve flowability and physical properties. Examples include silica, porous silica, flaky talc, and spherical PMMA. Colorants provide color and include both inorganic and organic pigments. Sunscreens mainly use nano titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.
• By performance and application:
  Powder materials include advanced ceramics, nanomaterials, biomass powders, and metal matrix composites. These materials, in particular, possess specific physical and chemical properties. Consequently, applications span aerospace, automotive, electronics, healthcare, environment, and energy sectors.

Properties of powder materials

The performance of powder materials is a key indicator of their quality and application value. Currently, the main performance aspects include physical, chemical, and mechanical properties.

• Physical properties:
  These include morphology, particle size distribution, and specific surface area. As a result, they directly affect the flowability, dispersibility, and bulk density of powders.
• Chemical properties:
  These involve chemical composition and chemical stability. They determine the reactivity and stability of powders in chemical processes.
• Mechanical properties:
  These include strength, hardness, and toughness. They define the application scope and service life of powders in engineering fields.

Application of powder materials

Powder materials have broad application prospects and have important applications in energy, environment, medicine, electronics and other fields.

• Energy Sector:
  Powder materials are used in battery and catalyst materials. For example, cathode/anode materials in lithium-ion batteries and catalysts in fuel cells are powders.
• Environmental Sector:
  Applications include adsorbent and catalyst materials. For instance, activated carbon and molecular sieves are used in wastewater and exhaust gas treatment.
• Medical Sector:
  Powder materials serve as drug carriers and biomaterials. In particular, nano powders enable targeted drug delivery, reducing dosage and side effects.
• Materials Sector:
  Powder technology is widely applied in polymers, ceramics, and metals.
  Specifically, nano polymer particles improve polymer strength and toughness.
  In addition, nano alumina and zirconia enhance ceramic hardness and wear resistance. Furthermore, composites use nano metal powders to boost strength and toughness.

Conclusion

With rapid technological progress, powder materials find wider use across various industries. In 2024, trending powder materials will drive industry growth.
These include battery electrodes, solar-grade silicon, and fuel cell catalysts.
Moreover, high-performance ceramics and semiconductors gain growing attention. Photovoltaic and electronic materials also show strong market potential.
These materials expand their roles in energy, electronics, and beyond. As a result, the powder industry enters a new growth phase. This trend offers huge opportunities for related enterprises.

Epic powder

Epic Powder has over 20 years of experience in the ultrafine powder industry. In addition, we actively promote the future development of ultrafine powder. Our focus lies on crushing, grinding, classifying, and modifying ultrafine powders. Therefore, contact us for a free consultation and customized solutions! Moreover, our expert team is dedicated to providing high-quality products and services. We aim to maximize the value of your powder processing. Epic Powder—Your Trusted Powder Processing Expert!