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This multi-authored handbook is a unique cross-industry resource for formulators and compounders, and an invaluable reference for the producers of formulated commodities and industrial minerals. Monographs on each of the common functional industrial mineralsùasbestos, barite, calcium carbonate, diatomite, feldspar, gypsum, hormite, kaolin, mica, nepheline syenite, perlite, pyrophyllite, silica, smectite, talc, vermiculite, wollastonite, and zeoliteùinclude an overview of natural and commercial varieties, market size, and application areas. These are supported by descriptions of mineral structures and the wedding of minerals and chemicals through mineral surface modification. This orientation to the minerals and their uses forms the foundation for chapters where they are presented in the context of the overall technology of various consuming industries. Each of these industry-specific presentations covers both the chemical and mineral raw materials used by the formulator, how these are combined, and relevant test methods. These chapters serve a dual purpose. Each clarifies for technologists the function and value of the mineral constituents of their products. Equally important, they provide a primer on the technology of industries other than their own, so that raw material, formulation, processing and testing considerations can be compared and contrasted.The book concludes with a formulary demonstrating how specific mineral and chemical ingredients are actually compounded in major application areas, and technical data on scores of commercial mineral products.

The use of microwaves has gradually democratized itself in several scientific areas and is now a common methodology in domains as different as chemistry, protein digestion, mining, and metallurgy. Materials chemistry is one field where microwave irradiation technologies are being studied. In recent years, development of nanotechnologies has increas

This comprehensive book containing essential information on the applicability of thermal analysis techniques to evaluate inorganic and organic materials in construction technology should serve as a useful reference for the scientist, engineer, construction technologist, architect, manufacturer, and user of construction materials, standard-writing bodies, and analytical chemists. The material scientists at the National Research Council of Canada have established one of the best thermal analysis laboratories in the world. Various types of thermal analysis techniques have been applied successfully to the investigation of inorganic and organic construction materials. These studies have provided important information on the characterization of raw as well as finished materials, quality control, quantitative estimation, interrelationships between physical, chemical, mechanical, and durability characteristics. Information on the application of thermal analysis to construction materials is dispersed in literature and hence the IRC scientists embarked on producing a handbook, the first of its kind, incorporating the latest knowledge available in this field of activity. Almost all important construction materials have been included.