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Acti-Gel® is an inorganic thickener presenting significant benefits within water-based coatings, ceramic glazes, and agricultural products.
Acti-Gel® (Magnesium Aluminium Silicate) offers excellent rheology modification, anti-settling and thixotropic thickening solutions. It also:
- Eliminates sedimentation
- Decreases synerese
- Prevents settlement
- Excellent stability
RBH is the UK’s leading supplier of Acti-Gel®.
Acti-Gel® In Detail:
Acti-Gel® 208 is a highly purified, Magnesium Aluminium Silicate product with unique properties. The material emanates from Attapulgite Clay, which when processed transform into homogenous rod-shaped particles, with pseudo-nano dimensions.
The Process
Stability at rest in thixotropic or pseudo plastic liquids is often the result of a three-dimensional network of tiny particles at rest. The homogeneous shape of the Acti-Gel® 208 particles allows very fast formation of such a network in water-based products, preventing settlement and water floatation highly efficient:
- Upon shear (spraying, pumping, tooling, brushing or pouring) this network is broken down completely.
- This results in a very low viscosity under shear.
- As soon as the water-based product is at rest the network is formed again very fast – in some cases in less than 0.2 seconds.
- This results in the reconstruction of a high viscosity (stabilisation, preventing sagging) after application.
The Result
- Water-based liquids, slurries and suspensions with ions and/or solids (with charge) can become highly pseudo plastic by addition of 0,01-3% (w/w) of Acti-Gel® 208.
- Water-based products show excellent workability, spray-ability, self-levelling properties, green strength and self-compacting properties since the viscosity is very low by the shear during application.
- Viscosity under shear is lower than with cellulose ethers.
- Once applied, viscosity will recover by absence of shear, resulting in unmatched stability (no bleeding, no segregation, high layer thickness, no syneresis, and no colour float).
- The dosing rate of Acti-Gel 208® depends on the amount of ions and/or solids with charge in your water based product. The level needed will be lower at high concentrations of ionic charges.
- The time needed for the viscosity to recover after applying shear also depends on this concentration of ionic charges. Recovery will be faster at higher concentrations of charge.
- Acti-Gel® has also been found to act as a reinforcing filler in several applications.
Complete the form on the right and one of our Market Specialists will be in contact to discuss how Acti-Gel® can meet your needs.
