What is the difference between Silica Sol VS Water Glass?

Many people think of water glass and silica sol when saying the adhesive. These is the 2 adhesives widely used in precision casting. So what is the difference between silica sol and water glass? Now let&#;s learn it together.

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Silica sol characteristics

Silica sol is a dispersion of nano-sized silica particles in water or in a solvent. It is a colloidal solution, odorless and non-toxic. Since SiO2 in the silica sol contains a large amount of water and hydroxyl groups, the molecular formula of the silica sol is SiO2.nH2O.

Water glass characteristics

The water glass is in the state of sodium silicate solution. Also known as saponin. An aqueous solution of sodium silicate is commonly known as water glass. Sodium silicate is a colorless, slightly colored transparent or translucent viscous liquid in a system in which water is used as a dispersing agent. Solid sodium silicate is a colorless, slightly colored transparent or translucent glass block. The form is divided into liquid, solid, and water quenching. In theory, these substances are called &#;colloids.&#;

How to distinguish between silica sol VS water glass

1&#;&#;The characteristics of the two are different, as above.

2&#;&#; Different uses.

The main uses of silica sol are as follows:

1. Used as a binder for various refractory materials, featuring strong adhesion and high-temperature resistance ( ° C &#; ° C).

2. It is used in the coating industry to make the coating firm, and it can resist dirt, dust, aging, fire, and other functions.

3. For thin shell precision casting, it can make the shell type strong and the casting smoothness is high. It is better in shape than water glass. Instead of silicate molding, it reduces costs and improves operating conditions.

4. Silica sol has a high specific surface area. It can be used in catalyst manufacturing and catalyst carriers.

5. Used in the paper industry. It can be used as a cellophane release agent, a photographic paper pretreatment agent, a cement bag anti-slip agent, and the like.

6. Used as a sizing agent for the textile industry. It is used together with oil to treat the spinnability of wool and rabbit hair, reduce breakage, prevent flying flowers, improve yield and increase economic benefits.

7. Used as a silicon steel sheet treatment agent, a picture tube dispersant, a floor wax anti-slip, and the like.

The use of water glass is as follows: in chemical production.

1. It is used to make silica gel, white carbon black, zeolite molecular sieve, sodium metasilicate pentahydrate, silica sol, layered silicon, instant powdered sodium silicate, sodium potassium silicate, etc. Silicate products. It is the basic raw material of silicon compounds.

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For more hydrophobic fumed silicainformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

2. In the light industry, it is an indispensable raw material in detergents such as washing powder and soap. It is also a water softener and a preservative.

3. Used in the textile industry for dyeing, bleaching, and sizing

4. Widely used in the machinery industry for casting, grinding wheel manufacturing and metal preservatives, etc.

5. Used in the construction industry to manufacture quick-drying cement, acid-resistant cement waterproof oil, soil curing agent, refractory materials, etc.

6. Silicon fertilizer can be produced in agriculture

In addition, it is used as a silicon-aluminum catalyst for catalytic cracking of petroleum, a filler for soap, an adhesive for corrugated paper, a metal preservative, a water softener, a detergent builder, a refractory material and a ceramic raw material.

JC Casting is a Silica Sol investment Casting and Water Glass Casting manufacturer in China. Contact us here for more information about JC Casting, obtain a quote, or to discuss your water glass project requirements in more detail. Alternatively, please get in touch using the details below.

Silica Sol Casting

Silica sol casting is a form of investment casting. The process is very similar except that the investment mould is made from silica sol zircon sand mixed with refractory powder. Silica sol zircon sand is exceptionally fine-grained (10-20 Microns) and can be mixed to a slurry with very low viscosity when creating the mould. The result is a casting method that delivers dimensionally accurate castings with excellent as-cast surface finishes. Crucially, the silica sol zircon moulds can withstand temperatures up to °C, making them very useful when casting high temperature alloy steels and stainless steels.

Selecting the right casting process for your project

Download our review of the main casting processes and how to choose&#;

Why use Silica Sol Investment Casting?

Benefits of silica sol investment casting:

• Great versatility; suitable for casting most metals.
• Will allow very intricate castings to be produced with thin walls.
• Smooth surface finishes are possible with no parting line so machining and finishing are reduced or eliminated.
• Allows un-machinable parts to be cast accurately instead.
• Excellent dimensional accuracy

Silica Sol Process

1. A metal die is made, the impression being the same as required in the final mould.
2. Molten wax is injected into the metal die to create a pattern, allowed to solidify and then removed. Some complex wax patterns are fabricated by joining several separate patterns together using an adhesive.
3. The waxes are then assembled on a wax tree, many parts can be put on the tree depending on size, it is common for components to be in the weight range 0.1kg up to 50kg.
4. The tree is then immersed in silica sol zircon slurry to coat the wax, the slurry is exceptionally fine with low viscosity resulting in an excellent as-cast surface finish. The slurry is coated with a refractory material and the process is repeated several times until a shell is created around the wax pattern.
5. The drying process is critical. The shells must be allowed to dry naturally in a constant temperature to allow the silica sol gels and refractory particles to bond, the result is a strong, high quality shell mould. The trees of wax are put into ovens of about 200 degrees to melt out the wax.
6. When all wax is removed the trees are heated up to over degrees to complete preparation for casting.
7. The metal is then poured into the hot moulds, which allows the alloy to reach the thinnest sections of the mould before it solidifies.

Limitations of the process:

There are some disadvantages to this process including:

• Preparation of the wax patterns and shell moulds is time consuming due to the need to naturally dry the moulds in temperature-controlled conditions, so can be expensive.
• Investment casting is not well suited to very high volume manufacturing due to the cycle times.

To discuss your requirements, call a member of NovaCast&#;s team on +44 (0) , send us a message here or .