Synthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles using Origanum majorana (O. majorana) herbal extracts may be achieved by mixing Titanium (IV) isopropoxide (TTIP) with O. majorana extracts. The O. majorana herbal extracts may be extracts obtained using boiled water. The TTIP may be mixed with the O. majorana extract at a ratio of 2:1. The resulting paste may be heated and pounded into a powder. The powder may then be calcinated in a muffle furnace, producing O. majorana titanium dioxide nanoparticles. The O. majorana titanium dioxide nanoparticles may be efficient photocatalysts.

Disclosed are a glossy pigment having a hollow structure and a method for producing the same. The glossy pigment having a hollow structure according to the present invention comprises: a hollow which penetrates through the center of the inside thereof; and a metal oxide coating layer which covers a part or all of the hollow, wherein the metal oxide coating layer has a hollow structure having a thickness of 0.1-3 m.

Methods are disclosed for producing an organic functionalized solid inorganic substrate, a surface of the inorganic substrate comprising a hydroxide and/or an oxide comprising an element M, the element M being a metal or a metalloid. The method includes drying the surface; optionally removing protons from the surface; and contacting the surface with an organometallic reagent comprising at least one organic functional moiety, thereby obtaining the organic functionalized inorganic substrate, the at least one organic functional moiety being attached to the element M of the hydroxide and/or the oxide by means of a direct M-C bond. The drying step includes contacting the surface with a flow comprising an inert gas. The organic functionalized inorganic substrate obtained by the method may be used as a membrane, a catalyst, a sorbent, a sensor or an electronic component, or as a substrate in filtration, adsorption, chromatography and/or separation processes.

A method of recovering an inorganic pigment from a coating composition, the method comprising a step of adding polyethylene glycol to the coating composition. The invention also concerns a coating composition comprising an inorganic pigment composition recovered according to the method, and the use of polyethylene glycol in the recovery of inorganic pigment from a coating composition.

The present invention refers to a process for producing white UV-absorbing surface-reacted calcium carbonate doped with a titanium species, comprising the steps of providing a calcium carbonate-comprising material, a calcium phosphate selected from monocalcium phosphate and/or dicalcium phosphate, and at least one titanium comprising substance, treating the calcium carbonate-comprising material with the calcium phosphate in an aqueous medium to form an aqueous suspension and grinding the aqueous suspension at a pH value of at least 4.2 to form an aqueous suspension of surface-reacted calcium carbonate, wherein the calcium carbonate-comprising material and the calcium phosphate in combination have a calcium ion to phosphate ion molar ratio (Ca.sup.2+:PO.sub.4.sup.3) in the range from 1.75:1 to 100:1, and wherein the at least one titanium comprising substance is added before and/or during and/or after the treatment step and/or before and/or during the grinding step.

The present invention relates to the processing of natural titanium-containing feedstock, mainly ilmenite concentrate, including ilmenite ores with a low TiO.sub.2 content, into products with high added value without generating any liquid or solid waste. The method according to the invention comprises the following stages: digesting ilmenite concentrate, processing the solid residue following ilmenite concentrate digestion, hydrolysis of titanium oxychloride, washing titanium oxides/hydroxides precipitate from impurities, calcination of titanium oxides/hydroxides precipitate, precipitation of iron hydroxides to obtain black, red and yellow iron oxide pigments, processing the mother liquor containing calcium chloride, regeneration of hydrogen chloride from ammonium chloride solution, obtaining ammonium sulfate and ammonium sulfate crystallization, obtaining crystalline ammonium chloride. The resulting products are pigments, pigment fillers, mineral fertilizers, construction materials, raw materials for the production of metals, and other products; they are used in various fields of application such as paint and coatings industry, pulp and paper industry, in the production of plastics, in metallurgy, in agricultural, construction industries and others.