Ceramic Pigment – A Specialty Pigment Used For Decoration of Tiles, Tableware and Sanitary Ware

Ceramic Pigment is a specialty pigment used for decoration of tiles, tableware and sanitary ware. They are also incorporated into glazes to add color.

Ceramic pigments are characterized by their stability for different applications, particle size and chemical compatibility. They are ground to fine particles with a well-defined distribution.

Color

Ceramic pigments are a form of colorant that is mixed with the body stain or the glaze and give color by dispersion within these materials. They are used in ceramics to bestow color on wall and floor tiles, tableware, sanitaryware, art wares and roof tiles.

Ceramic Pigments are usually a metal transition complex oxide obtained by a calcination process. They exhibit three main characteristics: thermal stability, chemical stability, and high tinting strength when dispersed and fired with glazes or ceramic matrices.

One of the most important types of ceramic pigments is tin oxide, which provides a wide range of colors. The thermal stability and chemically inert nature of tin oxide make it a great choice for producing a board palette of durable ceramic color.

Cadmium sulfoselenide is another highly versatile type of ceramic pigment. It provides a wide range of rich colors like red, orange and yellow. It is particularly useful for producing a variety of glazes, as it is resistant to high temperatures up to 1100C.

Another important type of ceramic pigment is cadmium sulfate, which is also used in the production of glazed surfaces. It is especially useful for producing a variety of red and orange colors in glazed surfaces.

The coloring power of these pigments is dependent on several factors, including the particle size and granulometric distribution. The particles must not be too large in order to avoid their dissolution in molten glazes. They also must be very fine to allow for optimal opacity.

The coloring power of stains is often enhanced by fritting, which makes the substances less soluble and non-toxic. However, it is important to note that some stains may lose their coloring power after firing. For this reason, it is a good idea to test the color on clay before using it in glazes or on finished pieces.

Stability

In the ceramic industry, pigments are used in body stains, glazes and inks. They must be stable over time, exhibiting high heat resistance, chemical resistance, weather and light fastness. In addition, they need to be free from pollution.

To achieve the best coloring power, pigments must not have particles smaller than 2 microns. Smaller particles are likely to dissolve in molten glazes and cause color shifts. Inorganic pigments for ceramic applications Ceramic Pigment must also be well distributed in order to maximize coating power and optical behavior.

Pigments contain chromophores that absorb and emit wavelengths of light to produce color. These compounds are typically based on d- or f-transition metals such as iron, manganese, vanadium, copper, cobalt, chromium, praseodymium and others.

The chromatic properties of a pigment are determined by the chromophores and by its crystal structure. These characteristics are reflected in the CIE Lab color formula, which is widely used to measure color differences between different materials. The classic color formulation takes into account the lightness, hue and chroma, as L*, a* and b*.

Among inorganic pigments, CICPs (complex inorganic colored oxides) are particularly suitable for use in ceramic applications. These are complex pigments that are produced by calcining two or more metal oxides together to create a new and more stable molecular structure.

However, there are some limitations of CICPs, such as their low solubility in molten glazes. This is due to the mobility of the elements involved in the compound, allowing them to be recombined into new crystalline structures during the cooling process.

This is an important problem for inorganic stains, which must be able to be used in a wide range of glazed ceramic products and in ceramic inks. In particular, Ceramic Pigment CICPs must have a melting temperature higher than the firing temperature of the ceramic product to be applied.

Sicer offers a wide range of high quality SK Colored Oxides for both glazes and inks, with the aim of achieving optimal stability in both applications. The company’s.E SERIES fatty acid ester-based inks are manufactured by ultra-grinding of the SK range of ceramic pigments in organic and super-dispersing vehicles. These inks are odorless and offer excellent performance and stability.

Reactivity

Ceramic pigments are used for many different applications. They can be applied directly to clay bodies or glaze, and they can also be formulated as coatings for the surfaces of ceramic materials such as slips and frits. The reactivity of the pigments depends on the raw material used, as well as the methods for synthesis employed.

Synthetic pigments are a type of ceramic colorants that are derived from oxides and carbonates. They are produced through industrial processes and represent the majority of ceramic colors. These pigments have a higher price than those produced from natural sources, but they offer many advantages.

The main crystalline structure used for pigments in the ceramic industry is spinel. The crystalline spinel structure makes these ceramic pigments highly stable and inalterable when incorporated into the composition of a glaze.

There are a variety of different metal oxides that can be used as ceramic pigments. Spinels, which are mixed metal oxides, are a common choice because of their high chemical and thermal stability. These oxides can be doped with specific elements to produce a wide range of colors and properties.

For example, zinc oxide can be doped with chromium to create a green color. The resulting green can be a beautiful and subtle green.

Another common oxide is tin. Tin oxide can be added to white and pastel glazed ceramics to give them a pink coloration. In addition, tin oxide can fume or volatilize when fired in a ceramic kiln. This can lead to absorption of tin into the kiln bricks and shelves.

Other oxides that can be used as ceramic pigments include glass-forming and fluxing oxides. Fluxing oxides lower the temperature at which a ceramic body melts, and glass-forming oxides contribute to the formation of glaze heats during firing.

These oxides can be used alone, or in combination with other ceramic pigments and/or oxides. Pigments should be mixed with sufficient flux to allow the mixture to melt without causing the oxides to bleed into the glaze.

The reactivity of ceramic pigments is affected by the raw material used, the synthesis method, and the heating and cooling temperatures. Several techniques have been employed for the synthesis of pigments, including solid-state reactions [8], sol gel synthesis, hydrothermal synthesis, and polymeric precursor synthesis.

Environmental Impact

The production of ceramic pigments involves a lot of energy, which is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions. This is why it is essential to make a conscious effort in reducing the overall environmental impact of ceramic pigments.

This can be achieved by producing pigments from waste, which is an important and largely untapped resource. A wide variety of industrial wastes are used for the production of ceramic pigments, including sludges from the cutting of natural stones (marble and granite), electroplating sludge and mineralizing sludge.

In this study, pigments were produced from a mixture of these materials using the sol-gel process at a lower formation temperature than is normally applied in the ceramic industry. This was done in order to reduce the use of fossil energy and to obtain more stable pigments.

These pigments were then characterized by XRD and UV-vis analysis. They were also evaluated in terms of their coloring strength and thermal stability by adding them to different ceramic substrates: transparent bright and opaque matte glazes as well as a stoneware paste.

The synthesis of these pigments from wastes has demonstrated that it is possible to produce inorganic pigments with only waste materials, which can diminish their environmental impact and face the depletion of virgin raw materials. These pigments are now being produced commercially in the European market.