Iron-Zircon Pigments Prepared by the Sol-Gel Method

The low temperature preparation of Fe-zircon pigment powders was conducted using the sol-gel method. The influence of firing atmosphere on the coloration and chemical durability of the pigment were examined, and the incorporation behavior of Fe ions into zircon matrix was discussed. The pigments were formed at lower temperature (900-1000℃) than that in the conventional solid-state method, when LiCl was added as a mineralizer (or catalyst) instead of conventional, the complicated mixture of several mineralizers. It was found that a large part of Fe ions is included in the pigment as α-Fe_2O_3. Fe-zircon pigments showed higher acid-durability compared to the commercial one, suggesting that α-Fe_2O_3 is embedded in the zircon matrix as uniformly distributed minute particles.