Depression of synthesis temperature and structure characterization of ZrSiO4 used in ceramic pigments

The ZrSiO4 has been synthesized with MgO as mineralizer by a simple solid-state route at low temperature. The effect of particle size of raw materials on the ZrSiO4 formation has been studied. The formation of ZrSiO4 with and without MgO has been investigated by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimeter analysis, respectively. The Fe2O3-ZrSiO4 pigments have been fully synthesized with MgO mineralizer at 1200 °C. The reflectance spectrum and color property of the Fe2O3-ZrSiO4 pigments have been measured and analyzed. Results reveal that nanopowders have a higher reactivity in synthesizing ZrSiO4, and that MgO can efficiently decrease the formation temperature of ZrSiO4 by reacting with SiO2 to 1100-1200 °C which is 200-300 °C lower than the characteristic temperature of ZrSiO4 formation. The prepared samples have most similar color properties to the commercially available pigment and the literature pigment. The method used in this work exhibits many advantages such as being free of volatile phases, safety and security, simplicity of process, low cost, environmental friendliness, indicating a more suitable method to synthesize Fe2O3-ZrSiO4 pigments for the potential applications in high-temperature ceramic pigments.