Patent ID: 7776149

Claim:
A process comprising: mixing a barium- and a sulfate-containing solution to form barium sulfate; filtering to recover a filter cake containing the barium sulfate; suspending the separated filter cake in water; mixing the suspension with at least one organic additive selected from the group consisting of an alcohol, a polyhydric alcohol, a polyalcohol, an organic ester, an organic sulfone; an organic ketone, an organic nitrile, an organic sulfoxide and an organic amide to form a mixed suspension; drying the mixed suspension; recovering barium sulfate covered with said organic additive, wherein said covered barium sulfate has an average particle diameter d 50 from 0.1 to 10 microns, and dispersing said covered barium sulfate in a plastic to form a plastic composition containing the coated barium sulfate, wherein the organic additive is an organic sulfone.