Fluorine-free synthesis and characterization of vanadium-zircon (V–ZrSiO4) turquoise ceramic pigment by a low temperature solid state reaction route

Abstract

A fluorine-free and low temperature synthetic route derived from in-situ formed mineralizer has been developed to fabricate V–ZrSiO4 turquoise ceramic pigment. When the calcination temperature is 750 °C and mole ratio of Na3VO4 to ZrOCl2·8H2O (NV/Zr) is 0.3, the as-prepared pigment exhibits a cluster-like structure and deep blue hue (L* = 69.28, a* = −12.15, b* = −20.04). The solid state reaction taking place during the mechanical grinding process lead to the in-situ formation of mineralizer NaCl and certain Si–O–Zr bond. The XRD refinement results and hyperfine structure in EPR spectra indicate that vanadium is located at the zircon interstitial site 16g with an isolated V4+ cluster state. The enameled samples exhibit excellent coloring ability, high chemical and thermal stability, suggesting its potential application in ceramic decoration.