Titanium dioxide leader announces new business division!

Chemours announced that in the fourth quarter of 2020, the company will divide its original fluorine-containing products division into two new reportable divisions. They are thermal and special solutions (TSS, formerly fluoride) and advanced performance materials (APM, formerly fluoropolymer).

This change will strengthen the client-centric approach, management focus and decision-making, strengthen resource allocation, and increase transparency and accountability. By continuing to invest in innovation and technology based on the unparalleled expertise in Chemours' unique product portfolio, each company will be given the greatest potential to bring strong long-term customer and shareholder value.
Therefore, new leaders have been appointed to Lead the TSS and APM departments and unlock the value of these businesses. Alisha Bellezza, the current vice president of Fluoride, has been appointed as the president of TSS. Denise Dignam, the current vice president of fluoropolymers, has been appointed president of APM. Edwin (Ed) Sparks, the current president of fluorinated products, will serve as president of titanium technology business after Bryan Snell retires. All these appointments will take effect on March 1, 2021.

Further reading:

The predecessor of Chemours was DuPont's titanium dioxide division, which was separated from DuPont in 2015. DuPont entered the titanium dioxide industry in the 1930s. The chlorination process technology of titanium dioxide was first industrialized by DuPont in the 1950s. The company's titanium dioxide production capacity in 2018 was 1.202 million tons.

There are two types of titanium dioxide lattices: Rutile and Anatase. There are two processes for the manufacture of titanium dioxide pigments: the chloride method and the sulfuric acid method.

At present, Chemours only uses the chloride method to produce R-type titanium dioxide. The process is to oxidize high-purity titanium tetrachloride at high temperature to generate titanium dioxide. Strictly controlling the process parameters in the oxidation stage of the chloride process can control the particle size and crystal form, and produce titanium dioxide with high hiding power, high brightness and high color strength.

For rutile titanium dioxide, in order to obtain the best performance in different applications, the surface needs to be coated. Generally, the inorganic treatment adopts wet processing method to coat the surface of titanium dioxide, and hydrated oxides including titanium, silicon, aluminum, zirconium, phosphorus, and Manganese are coated on the surface of titanium dioxide pigment particles. A combination of hydrated oxides can also be used.