EVALUATION OF SOLUTION COMBUSTION METHOD IN THE SYNTHESIS OF Fe-ZrSiO4 BASED CORAL PIGMENT

Auto-ignited gel combustion process has been used for producing a red hematite-zircon based pigment. The combustible mixtures contained the metal nitrates and citric acid as oxidizers and fuel, respectively. Sodium silicate (water glass) was used as silica source for producing zircon phase. X-Ray Diffractometery, Electron Microscopy and Simultaneous Thermal Analysis were used for characterization of reactions happened in the resulted dried gel during its heat-treatment. L* a* b* color parameters were measured by the CIE (Commission International de IʹEclairage) colorimetric method. This research has showed that solution combustion was unable to produce coral pigment as the end product of combustion without the need for any further heat treatment process.