What is Quantum Quartz?

Quantum Quartz is a composite of natural minerals and rocks – made up of 93% natural quartz bound with resin, pigments and other fillers. It can be used in a variety of domestic and commercial interior applications including kitchen and vanity tops, flooring, wall cladding, furniture, and many more. It is also an amazing surface which can really help elevate your room to a new level of quality.

What makes Quantum Quartz special?

Fillers, Resins & Additives

For Quartz based engineered stone, Quartz chips are used as the major filler. In addition coloured glass, oyster shells and metal are used to enhance the surface features of the stone. The proportion of Quartz used varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. It is generally made using a combination of 93% Quartz, with 7% of resin, recycled coloured glass, oyster shells, colours and binders.

Resins are used in many high‐strength demanding applications. The type of resin that is used in engineered stone can also differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some use epoxies or polyesters as well as other proprietary resins. Engineered stone products made with these resins are generally not considered to be thermoformable. Made in Stone’s quantum quartz products contain only the highest quality resins to bring out the very best result and ensure a quality surface every time.

Quartz-based engineered products contain numerous additives. These include pigments, but also a host of additives that improve or enhance chemical and performance properties: UV absorbers, cross‐linking agents, stabilisers, and the list goes on. Here at Made in Stone, we always strive to improve upon and implement the latest technologies in our stone.

Every year we are constantly finding ways to improve our products and one such improvement is an important additive which all Engineered stone share, a catalyst. This is the chemical, usually a peroxide, which causes the mixture to harden or cure the surface. We constantly strive to ensure that our catalyst is the perfect mixture and constantly seek new ways to improve on it so we can make our Quantum Quartz surfaces the very best they can be.

Casting, Curing & Colour

The way a solid surface is “cast” is generally a simple one. The resin is mixed with the additives and fillers and then poured into a mould, usually open, sometimes closed (usually closed for shaped products). It is important that no air bubbles are entrapped in the mix, as this would result in voids in the material. This is accomplished in different ways, from simple adjusting of the viscosity of the mix to vibrating casting tables and other more exotic methods.

Curing means allowing the chemical reactions that form the Engineered Stone product to be as close to 100% complete as possible, leaving a stable, inert material with all its performance properties intact. Some Engineered Stones cure by themselves in the open air. Others cure by being bathed in steam or heated in ovens. Many polyester resins require “post‐curing” operations, usually a heating‐cooling cycle which increases the degree of cure. As part of our constant drive for quality, we take curing our stone very seriously and ensure that the utmost care has gone into each and every one of our Quantum Quartz products.

Quantum Quartz comes in a variety of colours. Choose a colour that will compliment your décor. A slight colour variation may occur from batch to batch due to the location from which the natural material is quarried. Also, due to the natural quartz composition of Engineered Stone, irregularities such as spots or colour particles in the slab may occur.

Abrasion, Stain & Chemical Resistance

ASTM C‐241 tests the wearing resistance capacity of natural stones, ceramic and porcelain materials to the abrasion of foot traffic. Results of 10 qualify the material for normal traffic areas; 12 are required to pass for commercial floors, stair steps and platforms subject to heavy traffic. Quantum Quartz has an abrasive hardness of 60.

The capacity of commonly used tiles to resist the abrasion made by dragging heavy objects of different materials is evaluated using Abrasive Wearing Index Tests. The most common results are natural clay ceramic tiles 35 or more and porcelain tiles 100 or more. Quantum Quartz has an abrasion‐wearing index of more than 175 or about double than porcelain tiles.

Quantum Quartz is highly resistant to stains. Common spills that stay on the surface are easy to clean with regular cleaners. It has no trace of stain on the surface as tested per ASTM C‐650. The inert properties of its natural components (quartz, silica and or granite) together with its fabrication process make polished and semi‐gloss finished. These made a quantum quartz more resistant to stains than any other competitive material.

Quantum Quartz is an ideal product for applications where chemicals and/or strong cleaning agents are used. In addition, it is virtually non‐porous; hence, it is impervious to most concentrated solutions of industrial chemicals.

Listed below are industrial chemicals for which Quantum Quartz has been tested.

Check out our full Quantum Quartz offerings and colour range!