Characterisation of silicon, zirconium and aluminium coated titanium dioxide pigments recovered from paint waste

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the major white pigment used by the paint industry. However, the production of TiO2 is associated with a high carbon footprint. An alternative source of pigment could be created by developing a method to recover it from waste paint. In this paper two rutile pigments with different surface treatments were recovered from paint by a thermal recycling process. The pigments were analysed using powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), surface area measurements (BET), laser diffraction for particle size analysis and zeta potential measurements before and after the recycling process. It was concluded that the rutile cores of both pigments were intact and there were no major changes in particle size distribution or surface charge for either pigment induced by the recycling process. However, XPS and zeta potential measurements showed that the surface coating of the pigments can be more or less degraded depending on the chemical nature, which might imply the need for further re-coating after-treatment. Another option would be to find another application for the pigment where the quality and function of the coating is of less importance.