Cost-Effective and Eco-Friendly Transparent Ceramic Glazes for Porcelain Bodies

Abstract

The production of cost-effective and eco-friendly transparent ceramic glazes by incorporating pristine waste and eliminating frit preparation was intended to be applied on porcelain bodies. The effect of sintering temperature (950-1150 degrees C) and waste content (0-15 wt.%) on glazes' phase evolution and optical properties was investigated. At 950 degrees C, neat glaze consisted of crystalline silica, whereas the waste addition into the glaze composition formed crystalline diopside. Gloss (60 degrees) values generally increased above 950 degrees C due to the amorphization of crystalline phases; however, sintering at 1150 degrees C caused a crawling defect for the neat glaze that resulted in gloss reduction. Also, high waste ratios (> 5 wt.%) declined gloss too because of the raised diopside content. The decreasing sintering temperature and the waste ratio higher than 5 wt.% led to higher whiteness due to the white color of the crystalline diopside. Briefly, the addition of 5 wt.% waste to the transparent ceramic glaze recipe provided the highest gloss (77.8) and whiteness (90.2) at 1150 degrees C, which are higher than even maximum values of neat glaze (40.1 and 88.9) obtained at 1050 degrees C. Therefore, porcelain bodies with transparent ceramic glazes, produced by the proposed cost-effective and eco-friendly method, carry the potential to be used in various fields as porcelain dinnerware, sanitaryware, and tiles,