[Synthesis and characterization of mixed metal oxide pigments]

In the present work, aluminum chloride and various soluble salts of doping ions were dissolved in water. In addition, urea and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) were also dissolved in the above aqueous solution under supersonic treatments. Then the solutions were heated to induce the hydrolysis of urea so that soluble aluminum and doping ions convert into insoluble hydroxide or carbonate gels. After calcinations, the obtained gels change to mixed metal oxide pigments whose color is related to type and concentrations of the doping ions. XRD characterization demonstrates that the diffraction patterns of the products are the same as that of alpha-alumina. Diffuse reflectance spectra of samples of the samples in UV-Vis regions show that the absorption bands for d-d transitions of the doping ions undergo considerable change as the coordinate environments change. In addition, L*, a* and b* values of the pigments were measured by using UV-Vis densitometer. SEM results indicate that the size of the pigment powders is in the range 200-300 nm. The pigments are quite stable since no evidence of dissolution was observed after the synthesized pigment is soaked for 24 hours. ICP test shows that very little amount of doped metal occurs in the corresponding filtrate. The above results suggest that these new kinds of mixed metal oxide pigments are stable, non-toxic, environmental friendly and they may be applicable in molten spinning process and provide a new chance for non-aqueous printing and dyeing industry.