Coloring and near-infrared reflection performance of low-temperature synthesized novel (Cr,V)–ZrSiO4 jewel green pigments

Abstract

Novel (Cr,V)–ZrSiO4 jewel green pigments with good near-infrared reflection performance were prepared by in-situ mineralization at a low temperature of 900 °C. The synthesized pigments were characterized through XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, UV–Vis–NIR, XPS, and CIE L*a*b* colorimetry. The results show that Cr–V co-doping into the zircon lattice can effectively promotes the synthesis of zircon, and significantly produce a coloring effect from blue to jewel green and then to dark green with the increase of Cr/Si mole ratio from 0.025 to 0.4. The optimized Cr/Si is 0.2, showing excellent color rendering performance (L* = 56.69, a* = -18.52, b* = -9.28). The electron transitions of the (Cr,V)–ZrSiO4 pigments exhibits broadband emission and shifts to longer wavelength (530 nm) relative to V–ZrSiO4 with Cr/Si mole ratio of 0, corresponding to the jewel green region. And the pigments possess good near-infrared reflectance in the range of 700–2500 nm. The properties especially excellent near-infrared reflection performance make it promising functional pigment for energy-saving and health.