Iron-Zircon Pigments Prepared by Non-Hydrolytic Sol-Gel Method at Low Temperature

ron-zircon pigment has been synthesized by non-hydrolytic sol-gel method using zirconium chloride and tetraethoxysilane as precursors, anhydrous ferric chloride as colorant, lithium fluoride as mineralizer and anhydrous ethanol as solvent. Iron-zircon pigment has been characterized by means of DTA-TG, XRD, Colorimeter and TEM. The results show that only a small fraction of iron is incorporated in the zircon crystal structure while the remaining iron cations are trapped within the zircon matrix. The iron-zircon with the red value (a*) of 20.64 can be synthesized at 700°C with the optimum Fe/Zr molar ratio of 0.2.