Mica has a wide range of uses, in ancient China, it is often used to do traditional Chinese medicine, the ancients even think that taking mica: a year to remove all diseases (heavy metal poisoning), three years of long service, husband into a boy (body scrap), Zhongshan uncle Qing suit, over time can become a cloud (soul ascension). However, in the era without glass, the transparency of mica makes it a better decorative material, for example, we are familiar with the mica screen candle shadow deep, the river gradually falling Xiaoxing sink. Mica screen is low, tassel tent is small and mica calf car.
Applications in Art and Crafts
Mica is a new non-metallic crystal material, a national key new material, with heat insulation, insulation, high temperature resistance characteristics, is an important material in aerospace, rail transit, nuclear power, wind power, aircraft carriers and other high-tech fields, but also electrical equipment, wire and cable, household appliances indispensable insulation material, in the national economy and national defense construction plays an important role.
The common characteristics of mica group minerals are: layered silicate minerals, monoclinic crystal system, a few trigonal crystal system, the crystals are pseudo-hexagonal columnar, plate and sheet; The aggregate is scaly and foliaceous. It has a set of extremely complete cleavage, along which it is easy to peel into sheets. Therefore, the shape of mica is usually regarded as sheet.
The mica variety that does not contain iron is colorless in flakes, and the higher the iron content, the darker the color, and the more polychromatic and absorbable it is. According to the different chemical composition and optical characteristics, mica group minerals can be divided into Muscovite subgroup, biotite-phlogopite subgroup and lemica subgroup. The common mica are biotite, phlogopite, Muscovite and so on.
Take pearlescent pigments as an example, pearlescent pigments are a class of pigments with pearl luster, which are deposited on the substrate (generally natural mica, synthetic mica, glass sheet and other sheet-like materials) above a layer or alternately deposited multiple layers of metal oxides or non-metallic oxides and formed a flat sandwich body with a structure similar to sandwich. Due to the difference in refractive index between the substrate and the oxide deposited on its surface and each oxide, when the light shines on the surface of the pearlescent pigment, the incident light will be refracted and reflected at the interface of each layer of the pearlescent pigment, and the color of the pearlescent pigment that people see is the result of the superposition of light after multiple refractions and reflections of the light, that is, the interference phenomenon of light.
4. Drying and Packaging The processed mica flakes or powders are then dried to remove any moisture content and packaged according to customer specifications. This step ensures that the final product retains its quality during transportation and storage.
Additionally, the incorporation of mica in makeup aligns with the clean beauty movement, which emphasizes using non-toxic and environmentally friendly ingredients. As more brands release clean beauty lines that include mica, consumers are presented with a wider array of options to suit their preferences and values.
Layer upon layer of mica
Later, with the development of science and technology, people gradually realized that mica minerals have high insulation, high temperature resistance, strong acid and alkali resistance, and mica also began to enter building materials, fire, plastics, paper, rubber, pearlite pigments and other industries. These are mainly Muscovite and phlogopite.