A product for incorporating ultraviolet radiation protection and antimicrobial protection into rayon is disclosed which has a quantity of rayon, a quantity of zinc oxide particles with each particle having a surface, and a quantity of a reactive group for modifying each surface of each zinc oxide particle, the quantity of the reactive group for incorporating the quantity of zinc oxide particles into the quantity of rayon prior to the quantity of rayon being formed into a fiber.

The present invention is a method of producing silicon compound coated oxide particles in which at least a part of a surface of a metal oxide particle is coated with a silicon compound, wherein wettability and color characteristics are controlled by controlling a ratio of SiOH bonds contained in the silicon compound coated oxide particles. By the present invention, silicon compound coated oxide particles having controlled wettability such as hydrophilicity, water repellency or oil repellency, and controlled color characteristics of either reflectivity, molar absorption coefficient or transmittance can be provided.

There is provided a paint formulation comprising a composite pigment, said composite pigment being selected from the group consisting of metal oxide/silica, metal oxide/silicate, metal oxide/alumina, metal oxide/metal oxide and metal oxide/zirconia, wherein the size and amount of said composite pigment are selected to increase the opacity of said paint formulation.

The present invention relates to silicon-compound-coated fine metal particles, with which surfaces of fine metal particles, composed of at least one type of metal element or metalloid element, are at least partially coated with a silicon compound and a ratio of SiOH bonds contained in the silicon-compound-coated fine metal particles is controlled to be 0.1% or more and 70% or less. By the present invention, silicon-compound-coated fine metal particles that are controlled in dispersibility and other properties can be provided by controlling the ratio of SiOH bonds or the ratio of SiOH bonds/SiO bonds contained in the silicon-compound-coated fine metal particles. By controlling the ratio of SiOH bonds or the ratio of SiOH bonds/SiO bonds, a composition that is more appropriate for diversifying applications and targeted properties of silicon-compound-coated fine metal particles than was conventionally possible can be designed easily.

Provided are surface-modified inorganic compound particles having excellent dispersibility in a water soluble organic solvent, and also having excellent chemical stability in water.

Provided are Surface-modified particles, in which a surface of inorganic compound particle is modified with a compound represented by the following formula (1) or a salt thereof.

##STR00001##

[In formula (1), R.sup.1 represents an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms or an alkenyl group having 2 to 4 carbon atoms.]

A particulate metal oxide has a metal oxide core and a coating layer containing an inorganic material and (i) a quaternary silane coupling agent, and/or (ii) a silane coupling agent and a hydrophobizing agent. Preferred materials are titanium dioxide core particles, an amino organosilane coupling agent and a fatty acid hydrophobizing agent. The particulate metal oxide is suitable for use in forming a dispersion, and the particles and dispersion can be used in an end-use sunscreen composition which is transparent, exhibits effective UV absorption properties, reduced photoactivity, and/or improved skin feel.

Zinc oxide compositions and methods for applying anti-reflective coating on oxide particles for sunscreen applications are provided herein. A composition includes multiple zinc oxide particles suspended within a medium forming sunscreen composition, and two or more coating materials applied to each of the multiple zinc oxide particles in distinct layers via a gradation based on refractive index, wherein each of the coating materials has a refractive index that is between the refractive index of air and the refractive index of zinc oxide.

A silicon oxide-coated oxide composition for coating is disclosed in which color characteristics, particularly reflectivity are controlled, and a method of producing a composition for coating is disclosed which is used by blending the composition for coating to a paint constituting a coated body in which weather resistance is required. The silicon oxide-coated oxide composition for coating in which weather resistance is required includes silicon oxide-coated oxide particles wherein at least a part of the surface of the oxide particles is coated with silicon oxide, wherein the silicon oxide is amorphous for the purpose of controlling color characteristics of the silicon oxide-coated oxide composition for coating. The method of producing the composition for coating, wherein color characteristics of the oxide particles are controlled, includes producing the oxide particles by selecting presence or absence of amorphous silicon oxide covering at least a part of the surface of the oxide particles, and presence or absence of an acetyl group as a functional group contained in the silicon oxide-coated oxide particles.

Provided are a nanocomposite body, a method of manufacturing the nanocomposite body, and a nanocomposite film including the nanocomposite body. The nanocomposite body includes: inorganic particles; a polymer matrix; and grafting polymer chains each of which includes a polyol structure, wherein the inorganic particles and the polymer matrix are linked by the grafting polymer chains.

A dryer sheet for incorporating ultraviolet radiation protection and antimicrobial protection into clothing has a carrier substrate, a quantity of dipalmethyl hydroxyethylammonium methosulfate, a fatty acid, and clay, and a quantity of zinc oxide particles each having a surface treated with an acid polymer with the acid polymer binding to the surfaces of the zinc oxide particles.