Zinc Stearate is a non-toxic zinc compound with a variety of industrial applications, characteristic odor. It mainly functions as a release agent, thickening agent and emulsifier, being an essential component in the construction, packaging, consumer goods, automotive industries and many others. Zinc Stearate has many forms: powder, granules, flakes, and pastilles. However, the most used one is a powder, because of the small particle size of the highest quality, it is of white color with a slight characteristic odor.
Zinc Stearate is a material that is easily soluble in water, ultra-fine, and with good dispersion compatibility. It is valued by manufacturers because of the delicate feeling it gives to the finished products, good heat resistance, excellent transparency, yellowing resistance, quick-drying and increased sandability.
What are the industrial uses of Zinc Stearate powder?
Polymers and plastics
Zinc Stearate is used in the polymers industry as a heat stabilizer component, for example, in PVC stabilizers, it helps control the thermal degradation of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) compounds, that is further applied in food and pharma packaging.
Rubber
As an anti-adhesive and anti-tacking agent, Zinc Stearate reduces adhesion between rubber surfaces, and in rubber products. It can also act as a lubricant, mold release agent, and dusting agent for rubber, preventing the rubber from sticking to the mold as well as to itself.
Paint and Coating
Zinc Stearate is one of the well-known paint and coating materials with multiple efficient functions. In the paints, lacquers, and varnishing industry Zinc Stearate is used as a sanding and flatting agent to improve the coating film feel, to avoid the softening of the film caused by the temperature rise during mechanical polishing, and to paste the sandpaper or grinding wheel to achieve a matting effect. As a sanding agent, Zinc Stearate fills and improves the forming abilities of wood coatings and lacquers as well. In the production of floor and wall coverings along with other surface coatings, it is used as an adhesive. In any of its coating applications, Zinc Stearate gives smoothness to the coating material.
When paints and coatings are Zinc-rich, Bentonite is another additive to consider. Read more in Bentonite: production, supply and uses in paint.
Metal Processing
Zinc Stearate is an excellent lubricant and a lubricant additive for drawing metals such as aluminum and its alloys, stainless steel, and wire. Some metal forming lubricants and surface finish lubricants are made with an addition of Zinc Stearate as well.
Concrete
In the building industry, Zinc Stearate is extremely helpful as a waterproofing agent in improving the hydrophobicity of cement mortar and concrete. Another popular in construction material is Iron Oxide, read more in Making concrete colorful: Iron Oxide in construction.
Personal Care
Zinc Stearate can be used as an adhesive agent to make anti-skid adhesives and sealants for the production of cosmetic formulations. It helps achieve an anticaking effect and can also be a cosmetic colorant.
Pharmaceutical
Zinc Stearate’s main application in the pharma industry is in the tablet and capsule manufacture processes as a lubricant. However, sometimes it can be found in mild antiseptic and astringent solutions and in dental cement. In addition, it can also be used as a local soothing application for inflammatory and irritating skin diseases. For these applications, the material has to be pharma grade and USP certified.
Other Applications
As a very small share, less than 1%, Zinc Stearate can be a nutrient supplement in food. Even though it is mainly an industrial chemical, it is generally recognized as safe for human consumption when used in accordance with good manufacturing practice (GMP).
Zinc Stearate dosage
For most applications, the dosage varies from 3% to 10% in a solution. It is better to consult with your supplier of Zinc Stearate and check what specification and dosage are the best for your application. To gather more expert opinions, you can get in touch with us as well.
Is Zinc Stearate a safe material?
As we mentioned before, Zinc Stearate is a nontoxic, nonirritant, and non-DG material. FDA acknowledges Zinc Stearate usage in food and drugs as generally safe when used in accordance with GMP. As with every chemical, it should be transported and handled with care, but it is absolutely safe to use in all mentioned applications.
See Zinc Stearate card prepared by an international group of experts on behalf of ILO and WHO.
Download technical data sheet (TDS) and material safety data sheet (MSDS):