Münevver Çakı

The development and characterisation of zinc crystal glazes used for Amakusa-like soft porcelains

In porcelain production, as well as bodies expected to have white colour, compaction and translucency, suitable glaze compositions have great importance from both a technological and decoration point of view. Supplying the desired firing conditions is generally quite difficult for the porcelains having white colour after being fired in reducing atmospheres. In the present study, firstly it has been tried to make porcelain bodies similar to the Amakusa porcelain, which has been traditionally prepared in the Nagasaki Prefecture of Japan and widely used, by applying domestic raw materials and firing them in an oxidation atmosphere. Secondly, several zinc-containing glazes coloured with different colorants have been developed and applied to those bodies. After biscuit and gloss firing procedures, products have been characterised using dilatometry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.

The effect of albite wastes on glaze properties and microstructure of soft porcelain zinc crystal glazes

The efficient utilisation of waste materials arising from diverse industrial branches is of technological importance. As a replacement material for feldspar in some soft porcelain zinc crystal glazes, albite triage wastes which contain high levels of titania have been investigated. It has been seen that this material decreases glaze maturing temperature and that during slow cooling it promotes crystallisation resulting in very attractive natural crystal growth. These positive effects suggest that albite triage wastes can easily be used in zinc crystal glazes as an alternative to feldspar. By doing so, glaze cost will be decreased and a waste material will be effectively utilised.

Effects of the Red Mud Based Pigment Addition on the Physical and Micro-Structural Properties of Porcelain Tiles

In the production of conventional porcelain tiles colouring agents, being either in the form of pure oxides or pigments, are commonly and widely used at considerably high amounts to increase the attraction impact of final products. This, of course, raises the manufacturing costs. Having stated that, producing pigments at a reasonable cost really becomes an important concept for such a type of product. When producing aluminium metals through Bayer process Seydisehir aluminium factory of Turkey disposes huge amounts of red mud, which consists of high iron oxide and was thought to be valuable in terms of cheap pigment production. In the present study, pigments with the shades of black, brown and dark green colours were produced from the mixtures of red mud, CoO, Cr2O3 and MnO by following standard pigment preparation routes. Then, they were added into a porcelain tile composition separately. All the samples produced undergone through certain standard tests. The effect of red mud based pigments on the micro-structure of porcelain tiles was also searched.