In the mass production of high-temperature ceramic glazes and art glass, pigment selection directly determines the final color effect and production stability. The mainstream high-temperature colorants on the market include spinel pigments, zircon-lattice solid solution pigments and inclusion-encapsulated pigments. Familiarity with their structural characteristics, firing standards and glaze adaptability helps manufacturers effectively solve common problems such as color deviation, fading, batch color difference and glaze greying, and improve product qualification rates.
1. Spinel Ceramic Pigments
Deson Representative Products: Yellow Brown 1316, Cobalt Grey 1706, Cobalt Black 1608, Iron-Chromium Composite Pigments
Spinel pigments adopt composite crystal structures such as iron-chromium-zinc-aluminum and cobalt-chromium, featuring excellent thermal and chemical stability. The applicable temperature range is 1300℃ to 1350℃. This series is more suitable for zinc-based glaze formulas, delivering stable color rendering under standard oxidizing atmospheres. It is insensitive to slight changes in conventional glaze components and offers high production tolerance.
The biggest advantages of spinel pigments are strong universality and stable mass production performance. They show negligible color difference in large-batch glaze production and rarely cause quality problems. Widely applied in wall and floor tiles, industrial glazes, daily ceramics and glass coloring, spinel pigments are the most commonly used high-temperature pigment system in the ceramic industry.
2. Zircon-Lattice Solid Solution Pigments
Deson Representative Products: Praseodymium Yellow 1218/1219, Vanadium-Zirconium Yellow 1215/1216/1217, Iron-Zirconium Red 1119, Vanadium-Zirconium Blue 208/219
Zircon-lattice pigments fix color-forming ions inside zircon crystal lattices, achieving outstanding high-temperature resistance up to 1250℃-1400℃, which fits high-temperature fast firing production lines. Their reduction resistance varies greatly. Praseodymium-zirconium yellow can withstand weak reducing atmospheres with wide adaptability, while vanadium-zirconium series pigments only work stably under pure oxidizing conditions and tend to turn grey or fade in reducing environments.
Zircon-lattice pigments are specially designed for zircon opacified glazes and widely used in high-end tiles and sanitary ceramics. High content of zinc oxide, titanium dioxide and alkali metal oxides in glaze will weaken lattice color development and reduce color saturation. It is recommended to conduct sample firing tests according to individual glaze formulas before formal mass production.
3. Inclusion-Encapsulated Pigments
Deson Representative Products: Inclusion Yellow 108, Inclusion Red 106/107
Inclusion-encapsulated pigments adopt advanced zircon silicate encapsulation technology, locking the color core inside a stable crystal shell. This unique structure effectively isolates high temperature, acid, alkali and chemical erosion, providing superior high-temperature resistance, chemical stability and weather resistance compared with conventional spinel and zircon-lattice pigments.
Different from other two pigment systems, encapsulated pigments are sensitive to mechanical damage. Long-time and high-intensity ball milling will destroy the outer encapsulation structure and cause permanent color loss. In actual production, it is a common industry practice to add encapsulated pigments in the later stage of glaze milling to protect the complete encapsulation structure and ensure stable color rendering.
Benefiting from ultra-stable color performance and excellent surface finish, inclusion pigments are the preferred choice for high-end tiles, slabs, premium daily ceramics and high-temperature glass, dominating the coloring field of high-value ceramic products.
