Color Formation Mechanism of Ceramic Pigments Synthesized in the TiO2–SnO–ZnO Compounds

Abstract

This study deals with the color formation of ceramic pigment in the TiO2-SnO-ZnO system. We designed compounds to control the color formation depending on the composition using the Design of Experiment. The color coordinate values of synthesized pigments, L*a*b* were measured and statistically analyzed color for changing elements depending on its composition. The relationship between the major crystalline phases and chromaticity was examined using XRD, and the oxidation states of each element were analyzed by XPS. The synthesized pigments based on the compound design exhibited various color changes ranging from yellow-orange to green-blue and brown. The statistical analysis on the spectrophotometer results shows that a* and b* values decreased with TiO2 content, and increased with SnO content. Yellow-orange color was detected with the main peak of SnO, and the green-blue color developed with the main peak of Zn2TiO4. The a* and b* values increased with increased SnO peak intensity, and decreased with increased Zn2TiO4 peak intensity. The results revealed that pigment color formation was influenced by changes in the main crystalline phases and crystalline intensity. However, XPS analysis of the oxidation states of each element showed little correlation with the pigment chromaticity result. Key words: Inorganic pigment, Solid-state reaction, Raw material, Design of Experiment, Color