The effect of milling and percentage dissociation of plasma dissociated zircon on the colour of Pr-yellow and V-blue zircon pigments

The determination of percentage dissociation of zircon (ZrSiO4) to plasma‐dissociated zircon (ZrO2.SiO2) by Raman spectroscopy

“…The production of PDZ using plasma conversion technology was carried out at the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) and has been adequately described elsewhere . The PDZ synthesis method is essentially comprised of allowing zircon particles to free fall through a plasma reaction chamber at temperatures exceeding 1800 °C, followed by a rapid product‐cooling rate control for optimum product formation In general, the percentage dissociation of the zircon is dependent on various interdependent parameters, for example, the applied plasma power, the particle size of the zircon, the feed rate of the zircon, the quenching rate of the product, etc.…”

“…The use of PDZ in the production of zirconium‐based pigments has previously been described and the effect of milling and percentage dissociation of PDZ on the colour of Pr‐yellow and V‐blue doped‐zircon pigments has also been investigated . However, the percentage dissociation determination of PDZ in zircon by Raman spectroscopy and multivariate techniques has not been reported.…”

Iridescent Techniques in Ceramics: Physico-Chemical Analysis and Colorimetric Characterization of the Headquarters of the Botín Foundation in Santander

“…As for the decorative aspects, extensive research has been conducted into pigments that improve reflection of artificial light in interior design, golden glow effects in other cases, metallic shine effects, less polluting solar reflectance in the public space [17], phosphorescent effect [18], and a whole host of other applications. Much of the research conducted to date is aimed at finding stable color pigments, such as yellow [19] or blue [20], sometimes using encapsulation techniques [21], the application of nanopigments [22], microemulsions or inkjet printing [23]. Zirconium oxide [24,25] and titanium oxide are widely used.…”

New insight into the coloration mechanism and synthesis of ultrafine Pr‐ZrSiO4 yellow pigments

“…The praseodymium‐doped zircon yellow pigments (Pr‐ZrSiO 4 ), as one of the very few high‐temperature inorganic pigments, are widely applied in conventional inorganic decoration and also the high‐tech digital printing for their environmental benignity, superb yellowish hues, outstanding chemical/thermal stability and desirable compatibility with other pigments and ceramic bodies 1–4 . However, the Pr‐ZrSiO 4 pigments, as naturally allochromatic pigments, are still inferior in the tinting strength (the colorimetric values b * = 45−82, typically 50−65) 3–6 to those idiochromatic pigments (such as BiVO 4 and CdS 1‐x S x , with b * as high as 92−99) 7–10 . It is still challenging the researchers to further promote these pigments to a higher coloring performance in both the micron‐sized ones for conventional applications and also the submicron‐sized ultrafine powders for the thriving high‐tech digital decoration 1 .…”