Xu Lihua
A phase-separated iron-red glaze was prepared using potassium feldspar, quartz, Suzhou clay, talc, cattle bone ash, and iron oxide as raw materials. The effects of the glaze formula and glaze-layer thickness on the phase-separated iron-red glaze were studied, and the microstructure of the iron-red glaze was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results show that the amounts of cattle bone ash, iron oxide, and talc added have a significant effect on the iron-red glaze; the Fe content in the red areas of the glaze surface is far greater than in the tan-brown areas, with large amounts of alpha-Fe2O3 crystals concentrated there; a large number of crystals were also found precipitated in the glaze’s cross-section, following a pattern of denser distribution near the top and sparser toward the bottom; the optimal glaze-layer thickness for iron-red glaze should be controlled within the range of 0.8-1.0 mm.
