fumed silica

Grout sealer is a decorative material applied directly into the gaps between tiles after they are adhered, addressing the issues of unsightly and dirty black tile seams. It is an upgraded version of traditional grout, offering superior decorative and practical benefits compared to colored fillers. The raw materials consist of a uniform mixture of epoxy resin, curing agents, fillers, pigments, and additives, presenting a ceramic-like texture and semi-liquid state with rich, natural, and delicate colors. It is waterproof and mold-resistant.  In the composition of grout sealer, there are incompatible components with significantly different densities, which can lead to sedimentation during storage, affecting the performance of the sealer. Particularly when applied on vertical or overhead surfaces, the system must not flow or drip. During application, the material requires a certain level of fluidity and should not cure too quickly to maintain its shape. These requirements necessitate the use of a thixotropic agent, fumed silica.  Fumed silica has silanol groups on its surface that tend to form hydrogen bonds, leading to the creation of a three-dimensional network structure within the system. This network increases the system's viscosity, but once shear force is applied, the structure is disrupted, and the viscosity rapidly decreases. When the shear force is removed, the three-dimensional network reforms, and the viscosity increases again. Epoxy resin, containing various polar functional groups such as epoxy and hydroxyl groups, has good wettability on inorganic surfaces, and a certain amount of fumed silica can achieve excellent thixotropy.    Due to these characteristics of fumed silica, it serves to thicken and provide thixotropic effects in grout sealer, effectively solving problems such as flow, drip, and collapse during application. For more information, visit our website at www.geseesiltech.com.