A nanocomposite includes a plurality of nanoparticles, where each nanoparticle of the plurality of nanoparticles includes a TiO.sub.2 nanoparticle core characterized by a diameter between about 1 nm and about 20 nm and a surface .OH density below about 6.OH/nm.sup.2, and a nanoparticle shell conformally formed on surfaces of the TiO.sub.2 nanoparticle core. The nanoparticle shell is continuous and is thinner than about 2 nm. The nanoparticle shell includes a transparent material with a refractive index greater than about 1.7 for visible light. A valence band of the nanoparticle shell is more than about 0.1 eV lower than a valence band of the TiO.sub.2 nanoparticle core. A conduction band of the nanoparticle shell is more than about 0.5 eV higher than a conduction band of the TiO.sub.2 nanoparticle core.

A process for producing a particulate TiO.sub.2 includes supplementing metatitanic acid with an alkali compound in a quantity of 1200 ppm to 2400 ppm of alkali, with a phosphorus compound in a quantity of 0.1 wt.-% to 0.3 wt.-% by weight of P, expressed as phosphorus, and with an aluminum compound in a quantity of 1 ppm to 1000 ppm of Al, expressed as Al, to obtain a mixture. The quantity of the alkali compound, of the phosphorus compound, and of the aluminum compound are with respect to the TiO.sub.2 content. The mixture is calcined at a constant temperature of 940° C. to 1020° C. until a numerical fraction X.sub.50 of TiO.sub.2 has a primary crystallite size of at least 200 nm, to obtain a calcined mixture. The calcined mixture is cooled to obtain a cooled calcined mixture. The cooled calcined mixture is grinded to obtain the particulate TiO.sub.2.

An actinic radiation-curable inkjet ink contains an actinic radiation-polymerizable compound, surface-treated titanium oxide, and a wax. The surface-treated titanium oxide contains carbon atoms in an amount of 0.31 mass % to 2.0 mass % based on the total mass thereof.

The present invention comprises the coating and modification of textile materials in order to provide them with water-repellent properties. The object of the invention was to hydrophobize textiles loaded with metal oxide, wherein the hydrophobing agent presented here is non-toxic and environmentally friendly, adhering to the metal oxide surface considerably more stably and without the use of additional dispersants and binders, which also takes environmental aspects into account. The object is achieved by the use according to the invention of metal oxide particles and/or metal hydroxide particles of group IVB, IIB or IIIA or mixtures thereof, wherein said particles are present in a size range of 110 nm-10 μm, for the coating of textile materials and their treatment after application to the textile with phosphoric or phosphonic acid ester derivatives of the general form OP(OH).sub.2OR or OP(OH).sub.2R, wherein R is a hydrophobic residue in the form of aliphatic, branched or unbranched, alicyclic or aromatic hydrocarbon groups having 5-40 carbon atoms.

The present invention provides an aqueous paint composition comprising by dry weight based on total dry weight of the pigment composition, from 11% to 35% of a polymeric duller of (co)polymeric particles having an average diameter of from 1 to 20 μm, and from 25% to 70% of titanium dioxide particles; wherein from 50% to 100% of the titanium dioxide particles are encapsulated by polymer shell of (co)polymeric particles.

A process for preparing a composite containing submicron sized particles of metal oxide pigment and a natural-based organic compound is disclosed. The process includes a step of grinding a metal oxide pigment and a oligomeric and/or polymeric carbohydrate together by means of a ball mill, to obtain a pigment composite containing particles having a submicron granulometry and an outer surface partially or completely covered by the oligomeric and/or polymeric carbohydrate. A pigment composite including pigment particles having a mean hydrodynamic diameter smaller than 1 μm is also disclosed.

The present disclosure provides white pigment dispersions, which can include an aqueous liquid vehicle, and from 5 wt % to 70 wt % of a white metal oxide pigment dispersed by two co-dispersants. The metal oxide pigment can have an average particulate size from 100 nm to 1 μm, and the co-dispersants can include both i) a short-chain anionic dispersant having a weight average molecular weight ranging from 1,000 Mw to 30,000 Mw, and ii) a non-ionic or predominantly non-ionic dispersant.

An electrophoresis dispersion liquid includes first electrophoretic particle of a scattering system having an ionic group on a surface thereof; second electrophoretic particle of a coloring system having a polarization group on the surface thereof; and a dispersion medium. It is preferable that the ionic group is an acidic group, and further includes a ring structure that forms an acidic group and a salt. It is preferable that the polarization group is an organic group having a main skeleton, and a substituent bonded to the main skeleton.

The present invention provides a functional material, its preparation method, an alignment material and a liquid crystal substrate, which belong to the display technical field and can solve the problem that current liquid crystal display devices will produce pollution. The functional material of the present invention comprises an inorganic powder whose surface has a modified layer, wherein the inorganic powder comprises any one or more of aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, zirconium oxide, silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, boron oxide, diiron trioxide, calcium oxide, potassium oxide, sodium oxide and lithium oxide; the modified layer is generated via cyclization by dehydrating the reaction product of a dianhydride and a diamine. The alignment material of the present invention comprises the above functional material. The liquid crystal display substrate of the present invention comprises an alignment layer made from the above alignment material.

The present invention relates to a process for preparing an aqueous dispersion of polymer encapsulated TiO.sub.2 particles, comprising a multistage polymerization steps that includes a relatively large amount of low T.sub.g first monomers and a relatively small amount of high T.sub.g second monomers that comprise a relatively high concentration of an acid monomer. The dispersion of encapsulated TiO.sub.2 particles shows significantly improved freeze-thaw stability as compared with prior art processes that do not include staging with the second monomers described herein.