Ceramic flux

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Fluxes are substances, usually oxides, used in glasses, glazes and ceramic bodies to lower the high melting point of the main glass forming constituents, usually silica and alumina. A ceramic flux functions by promoting partial or complete liquefaction. [1] [2] The most commonly used fluxing oxides in a ceramic glaze contain lead, sodium, potassium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, barium, zinc, strontium, and manganese. These are introduced to the raw glaze as compounds, for example lead as lead oxide. Boron is considered by many to be a glass former rather than a flux.

Contents

Some oxides, such as calcium oxide, flux significantly only at high temperature. Lead oxide is the traditional low temperature flux used for crystal glass, but it is now avoided because it is toxic even in small quantities. It is being replaced by other substances, especially boron and zinc oxides. [3]

In clay bodies a flux creates a limited and controlled amount of glass, which works to cement crystalline phases together. Fluxes play a key role in the vitrification of clay bodies by lowering the overall melting point. The most common fluxes used in clay bodies are potassium oxide and sodium oxide which are found in feldspars. A predominant flux in glazes is calcium oxide which is usually obtained from limestone. The two most common feldspars in the ceramic industry are potash feldspar (orthoclase) and soda feldspar (albite).

Common oxides

List of commonly used ceramic oxides: [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tin-glazing</span>

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A pyrotechnic composition is a substance or mixture of substances designed to produce an effect by heat, light, sound, gas/smoke or a combination of these, as a result of non-detonative self-sustaining exothermic chemical reactions. Pyrotechnic substances do not rely on oxygen from external sources to sustain the reaction.

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This is a list of pottery and ceramic terms.

Ceramic colorants are added to a glaze or a clay to create color. Carbonates and oxides of certain metals, characterize most colorants including the commonly used cobalt carbonate, cobalt oxide, chrome oxide, red iron oxide, and copper carbonate. These colorants can create a multitude of colors depending on other materials they interact with and to which temperature and in which atmosphere they are fired.

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Ceramic chemistry studies the relationship between the physical properties of fired ceramics and ceramic glazes and their chemistry. Although ceramic technicians have long understood many of these relationships, the advent of computer software to automate the conversion from batch to formula and analysis has brought this science within the reach of many more people. Physical properties of glazes in fired products are directly related to the chemistry. Properties of glass melts like viscosity and surface tension are also principally products of chemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood ash</span> Residue powder left after the combustion of wood

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A secondary flux is a ceramic flux which does not act as a good flux alone, but is effective when used in combination with other fluxes. They also tend to act as "anti-fluxes" at lower temperatures, and may produce matt or opaque glazes under those conditions. For example, calcium oxide is generally used with sodium or potassium and by itself has little fluxing effect at pyrometric cone 6 but does act as a flux at cone 8.. When use calcium with lead it gives low melting temperature to glaz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barium borate</span> Chemical compound

Barium borate is an inorganic compound, a borate of barium with a chemical formula BaB2O4 or Ba(BO2)2. It is available as a hydrate or dehydrated form, as white powder or colorless crystals. The crystals exist in the high-temperature α phase and low-temperature β phase, abbreviated as BBO; both phases are birefringent, and BBO is a common nonlinear optical material.

Ultra-high-temperature ceramics (UHTCs) are a type of refractory ceramics that that can withstand extremely high temperatures without degrading, often above 2,000 °C. They also often have high thermal conductivities and are highly resistant to thermal shock, meaning they can withstand sudden and extreme changes in temperature without cracking or breaking. Chemically, they are usually borides, carbides, nitrides, and oxides of early transition metals.

References

  1. Daly, Greg (1995). Glazes and glazing techniques : a glaze journey (Reprinted ed.). London: A & C Black. ISBN   9780713642766.
  2. Obstler, Richard A. Eppler; Mimi (2005). Understanding glazes. Westerville, Ohio: The American Ceramic Society. ISBN   978-1-57498-222-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. "Flux".
  4. Hansen, Tony (July 20, 2022). "Oxides". Digitalfire. Retrieved July 20, 2022.

See also