The effect of lead additives on ancient Chinese Purple pigment synthesis

The effect of three kinds of lead additives on Chinese Purple synthesis was studied in this research. The barium source of the Chinese Purple was barium carbonate (BaCO3), and three common lead additives in the ancient samples, lead oxide (PbO), lead sulfide (PbS) and lead carbonate (PbCO3), were used in this study. The microstructures of the three additives were observed by SEM, and the thermal analyses of three formulation powders were conducted by TG. After the reaction, compositions and chrominance of the pigments were measured by XRD and colorimeter, respectively. It is shown that PbCO3 could decrease the synthesis reaction temperature effectively, thus the pigment synthesis reaction could occur under the low temperature (720 °C-900 °C), and a brighter, purer Chinese Purple pigment could be obtained.