Most solid surface materials combine two main ingredients: a natural
mineral (the “filler”) and a resin (the “binder”) , along with various
additives.
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These are
Natural Slate Stone Indoor Tiles and then cast in a curing process that results in a sheet or a shape.
ATH
The
filler of choice in most solid surface is called alumina tri-hydrate,
or “ATH.” ATH has great physical properties. It has excellent chemical
and
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excellent water-resistance; nice translucency; hard enough to give
superb impact-resistance but “soft” enough to be machinable; and one
last almost magical property: not only will it not burn, but because it
has “water in hydration,” when attacked by heat ATH actually releases
steam. This makes it a natural fire-retardant..
Other Fillers
Other
materials have been used as fillers for solid surface. Calcium
carbonate was used in the first Corian sheets. Quartz is used to make
some sinks, but yields a material too hard and brittle to be easily
machinable. One brand uses glass fibers to add strength and
impact-resistance to its product but at a cost of beauty and shine.
Special fillers like glass beads have been tried and used to achieve
specific effects.
Resins
Two main
“families” of resins are used to make solid surface: acrylic and
polyester. A purely acrylic-based resin yields a sheet that is
thermoformable--that is, it can be heated, bent to a new shape, and
cooled without any loss of its performance characteristics. The other
chief difference between acrylic and polyester resins is that acrylics
are unaffected by the ultraviolet rays present in natural light.
Polyester resins (including those which are “acrylic-modified,” that is,
mixed with acrylic resins) are used in many high-strength demanding
applications besides solid surfacing, including outdoor applications
like boats and aircraft cowlings. Solid surface products made with these
resins are generally not considered to be thermoformable, although some
manufacturers as well as fabricators do in fact cite some
thermoformability for their products. Both acrylic and polyester resins
start life as petroleum, and thus their cost is tied at least indirectly
to the price of oil. But other supply and demand factors enter in to
make the chemical market extremely volatile (no pun intended)
price-wise. At today’s prices, acrylic is two to three times the cost of
polyester.
Additives
Crystal White Marble
product contains numerous additives.These include pigments, but also a
host of additives that improve or enhance chemical and performance
properties, or even affect such mundane things as the “pot life” of the
resin in transit and storage: UV absorbent, cross-linking agents,
stabilizers, the list goes on. One important additive which all solid
surfaces share is a catalyst. This is the chemical, usually a peroxide,
which causes the mixture to harden, or cure.
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