An object to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a pigment which is comfortable and smooth to the touch in a coating, spreads well on the skin, for example, when used in a cosmetic material such as a foundation or an eye shadow, and exhibits good color development and gloss. A pigment of the present invention is a coated pigment formed by coating a surface of a flaky base material made of at least one metal or metal oxide with a colorant. The surface of the flaky base material has a coarse particle area fraction of 9% or less. Further, it is preferable that the flaky base material be at least one or more selected from the group consisting of mica, aluminum, alumina, and glass.

A film for absorbing visible light, including: a plurality of silica nanoparticles, wherein a surface of at least a part of the plurality of silica nanoparticles is functionalized with a plurality of pigment molecules of a Melanin type compound.

Compositions comprising Group 13 element-based coupling agents and/or aluminum-based substrates and methods for making such compositions are provided. Compositions herein further comprise an inorganic substrate, a functionalized polymer, or a combination thereof. Such compositions may further comprise a secondary coupling agent having two or more functional groups. Compositions comprising a particulate inorganic substrate dispersed in a polymer form composite materials having improved mechanical properties. Compositions comprising a monolithic inorganic substrate having at least one surface bonded to a polymer layer form articles having improved surface properties.

A scattering particle includes a core and a shell, wherein the shell includes a first layer including a compound capable of reacting with oxygen and/or moisture, and a second layer including a compound decomposable by light and/or heat.

The invention relates to a process for delamination of a layered silicate in an aqueous medium, wherein in a first step a layered silicate is treated with a delamination agent, and in a second step the thus treated layered silicate is contacted with an aqueous medium, whereby the delamination agent is a compound having exactly one positively charged atom, the positively charged atom being selected from the group consisting of nitrogen and phosphorous; contains n.sub.f functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl groups, ether groups, sulfonic acid ester groups and carboxylic acid ester groups, n.sub.f being a number from 3 to 10; comprises a total number of carbon atoms n.sub.c being from 4 to 12; has a ratio n.sub.c/(1+n.sub.f) from 1 to 2, wherein n.sub.c is the total number of carbon atoms of the delamination agent and n.sub.f is the total number of functional groups in the delamination agent as defined under ii.; contains n.sub.t atoms selected from the group consisting of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, oxygen and sulfur, n.sub.t being 9; and wherein the delamination agent is used to treat the layered silicate in an amount of at least equal to the cation exchange capacity of the layered silicate. The invention further relates to the thus produced delaminated layered silicates, their use in the production of composite and coating material and as a barrier material. Moreover, the invention relates to compositions containing the thus produced delaminated layered silicates.

A process for delamination of a layered silicate in an aqueous medium includes treating a synthetic or naturally occurring 2:1 clay mineral layered silicate with a delamination agent, and contacting the treated layered silicate with an aqueous medium. An amount of the delamination agent used to treat the layered silicate can be at least equal to the cation exchange capacity of the layered silicate. A delaminated layered silicate can be obtained from the process and provided in a dispersion, a composite, or a barrier.

A precipitated silica having a CTAB specific surface in the range of from 50 to 300 m.sup.2/g; a BET/CTAB specific surface ratio equal to or greater than 1.3 and comprising at least one polycarboxylic acid.

The present invention provides a surface-treated silica filler for suppressing an increase in viscosity when added to a resin composition used for applications such as a semiconductor sealing material, and the resin composition containing the surface-treated silica filler. The surface-treated silica filler of the present invention is surface-treated with a basic substance having an acid dissociation constant (pKa) of its conjugate acid of 9.4 or more.

The present invention relates to light-scattering silica particles having a light scattering property, the light-scattering silica particles including: a plurality of hollow portions each having a closed pore structure inside the particle, in which the light-scattering silica particles have a volume-based cumulative 50% particle diameter of 1 ?m to 500 ?m and an average circularity of 0.80 or more, and in use of the light-scattering silica particles, a reflectance A of a water cake containing 20 mg/cm.sup.2 of silica per measurement cross-sectional area at an ultraviolet wavelength of 310 nm is 30% or more.

A chemically modified precipitated silica characterised by the presence of alkyl moieties chemically bound to the silica and a process for its manufacture.