| The sol-gel method has been used to synthesise zircon-based pigments
having Pr, V, Ni, Cr, Fe and Cu ions as dopants and glass enamels
close to the commercial composition of 27Pb0.51Si02.8B,03.SLi,O.
While these products compared reasonably v. ith the corresponding
products obtained through conventional sintering and melting, they
are yet to be further developed to meet desirable t)ualities. The sol-+
gel--+glass transitions have been studied spectroscopically for samples
containing transition metals and the absocption spectra explained in
the light of ligand field theory. The temperature of zircon formation
and the extent of transformation to zircon were found to be influenced
by the nature of dopants and such zircon pigments were found to
have very high chemical durability. The gel derived glass enamels
did not show any sign of crystallisation and adhered well on sheet
glass substrate when fired at 600°C for 10 minutes. |
