Historical hematite pigment: Synthesis by an aqueous sol–gel method, characterization and application for the colouration of ceramic glazes

Synthetic hematite (α-Fe2O3) has been synthesized by simple and environmentally benign aqueous sol–gel method. Annealing of the gels at different temperatures in the range of 500–1000 °C yielded the single phase synthetic hematite. Interestingly, the colour of the sol–gel derived hematite can be controlled by annealing temperature of prepared Fe–O nitrate–glycolate gel. It was demonstrated that the heating temperature influences morphology, particle size and shape of pigments. The CIELab values of synthesized pigments have been also determined and revealed different colour of pigments. For comparison, three commercial pigments were also investigated and characterized. Ceramic glazes were prepared with the same pigments and characterized.