Surface-reacted calcium carbonate with functional cations

Abstract

A method of providing micronutrient delivery and/or plant protection is described, the method comprising administering a surface-reacted calcium carbonate as a metal cation releaser to deliver the micronutrient and/or provide plant protection. The surface-reacted calcium carbonate is obtained by a process comprising treating a calcium carbonate-comprising material with at least one H 3 O + ion donor, carbon dioxide, and at least one water-soluble metal cation source in an aqueous medium to form an aqueous suspension of surface-reacted calcium carbonate.

1 . A method of providing micronutrient delivery and/or plant protection, the method comprising administering an effective amount of a surface-reacted calcium carbonate as a metal cation releaser to deliver the micronutrient and/or provide plant protection, wherein the surface-reacted calcium carbonate is obtained by a process comprising the steps of:
 a) providing a calcium carbonate-comprising material, wherein the calcium carbonate-comprising material is a natural ground calcium carbonate,   b) providing at least one H 3 O +  ion donor, wherein the at least one H 3 O +  ion donor is phosphoric acid,   c) providing at least one water-soluble metal cation source, and   d) treating the calcium carbonate-comprising material of step a) with the at least one H 3 O +  ion donor of step b) and carbon dioxide in an aqueous medium to form an aqueous suspension of surface-reacted calcium carbonate, wherein in step d) the calcium carbonate-comprising material is treated with a solution comprising the at least one H 3 O +  ion donor of step b) and the at least one water-soluble metal cation source of step c),   wherein the at least one water-soluble metal cation source is selected from the group consisting of copper nitrate, copper sulphate, copper acetate, copper chloride, copper bromide, copper iodide, zinc nitrate, zinc sulphate, zinc acetate, zinc chloride, zinc bromide, zinc iodide, hydrates thereof, and mixtures thereof,   wherein the carbon dioxide is formed in-situ by the H 3 O +  ion donor treatment of the calcium carbonate-comprising material and/or is supplied from an external source, and   wherein the at least one water-soluble metal cation source of step c) is added during step d).   
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the calcium carbonate-comprising material is in the form of particles having a weight median particle size d 50  (wt) from 0.05 μm to 10 μm and/or a weight top cut particle size d 98  (wt) from 0.15 μm to 55 μm. 
     
     
         4 . (canceled) 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the molar ratio of the at least one H 3 O +  ion donor to the calcium carbonate-comprising material is from 0.01 to 4. 
     
     
         6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one water-soluble metal cation source is provided in an amount from 0.01 wt.-% to 60 wt.-%, based on the total weight of the calcium carbonate-comprising material. 
     
     
         8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein in step d) the calcium carbonate-comprising material is treated with a first solution comprising a first part of the at least one H 3 O +  ion donor of step b), and subsequently, with a second solution comprising the remaining part of the at least one H 3 O +  ion donor of step b) and the at least one water-soluble metal cation source of step c). 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step d) is carried out at a temperature from 20° C. to 90° C. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the process further comprises a step e) of separating the surface-reacted calcium carbonate from the aqueous suspension obtained in step d). 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the process further comprises a step f) of drying the surface-reacted calcium carbonate after step d) at a temperature in the range from 60° C. to 600° C. 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the surface-reacted calcium carbonate has a specific surface area of from 15 m 2 /g to 200 m 2 /g measured using nitrogen and the BET method. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the surface-reacted calcium carbonate has a volume determined median particle size d 50  (vol) from 1 μm to 75 μm and/or a volume determined top cut particle size d 95  (vol) from 2 μm to 150 μm. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the surface-reacted calcium carbonate has an intra-particle intruded specific pore volume in the range from 0.1 cm 3 /g to 2.3 cm 3 /g calculated from mercury porosimetry measurement. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the surface-reacted calcium carbonate has an intra-particle pore size in a range of from 0.004 μm to 1.6 μm determined from mercury porosity measurement. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the administering a surface-reacted calcium carbonate comprises administering a composition comprising the surface-reacted calcium carbonate and an additional surface-reacted calcium carbonate, wherein the additional surface-reacted calcium carbonate is a reaction product of natural ground calcium carbonate or precipitated calcium carbonate with carbon dioxide and at least one H 3 O +  ion donor, wherein the carbon dioxide is formed in-situ by the H 3 O +  ion donor treatment and/or is supplied from an external source. 
     
     
         20 - 23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the administering a surface-reacted calcium carbonate comprises administering an article comprising the surface-reacted calcium carbonate, wherein the article is selected from the group consisting of agriculture products, horticulture products, clothing, household products, and industrial products. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the natural ground calcium carbonate is selected from the group consisting of marble, chalk, dolomite, limestone, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the weight median particle size d 50  (wt) is from 0.2 μm to 5.0 μm and/or the weight top cut particle size d 98  (wt) is from 1 μm to 40 μm. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the molar ratio is from 0.02 to 2. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the amount of the at least one water-soluble metal cation source is from 0.05 wt.-% to 50 wt.-%. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the drying is conducted until the moisture content of the surface-reacted calcium carbonate is from 0.01 wt.-% to 5 wt.-% based on the total weight of the dried surface-reacted calcium carbonate. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the specific surface area is from 20 m 2 /g to 180 m 2 /g. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the volume determined median particle size d 50  (vol) is from 2 μm to 50 μm and/or the volume determined top cut particle size d 98  (vol) is from 4 μm to 100 μm. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the intra-particle intruded specific pore volume is from 0.2 cm 2 /g to 2.0 cm 3 /g. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the intra-particle pore size is from 0.005 μm to 1.3 μm. 
     
     
         34 . the method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one water-soluble metal cation source is selected from the group consisting of copper nitrate, copper sulphate, copper acetate, copper chloride, copper bromide, copper iodide, hydrates thereof, and mixtures thereof.