Iron zircon coral pigments are very interesting from an industrial point of view because of their high colouring power and their stability at high temperatures. However, the pigment's synthesis is particularly troublesome due to its specific reaction mechanism. As an encapsulated pigment it becomes very important how the raw materials are distributed in the reaction mixture. To evaluate the effectiveness of the mixing process, it would be convenient to define a parameter, that is the mixing index, to estimate the degree of homogeneity of the system. In the current investigation, a mixing index is proposed derived from the power spectrum of Fourier transform of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the raw material mixture. Concretely, the number of pixels in a certain range of values in the image of the power spectrum, seems to behave relatively well as mixing index. This index allows us to distinguish between samples with different zirconia and iron oxide used as precursors. The proposed mixing index seems to be related to the colouring power of the final pigment when the synthesis generates enough zircon to encapsulate hematite particles.
Iron Zircon Pigment Synthesis: Proposal Of A Mixing Index For The Raw Materials Mixtures
Origin
Unknown
Journal Title
Bol Soc Española Cerám Vidrio 56 4 July-Aug 2017 177-185 (Open Access: Https://www.Sciencedirect.com/Science/Article/Pii/S0366317517300183)
Sector
Enamels
Class
E 172