High wear resistance white ceramic glaze containing needle like zircon single crystals by the addition of sepiolite n-ZrO2

Sepiolite with homogeneous zirconia nanoparticles distribution has been added to a transparent ceramic glaze to study opacification, mechanical and wear resistance properties. It has been observed that monodispersed zircon single crystals with needle-like shape have been formed in the ceramic glaze. These in situ zircon single crystals give white color and increase opacification (L = 94 vs L = 90), mechanical properties (hardness and toughness) and wear resistance by a factor of 4 compared to the commercial crystalline glaze containing a similar fraction of micrometer commercial zircon.