Development of gold-bronze metallic glazes in a clay-based system for stoneware bodies

In this study, a triaxial glaze system consisting of red clay, kaoline, quartz, MnO, CuO and CoO is systematically developed to produce gold-bronze raw metallic glazes for stoneware bodies. At first, all of the glazed samples in the developed system were fired in an electrically-heated kiln at 1160 degrees C. Then, the selected successful gold-bronze metallic glazes were applied onto 3-D forms of stoneware bodies and fired at the same conditions. Microstructural characterizations of the glazes are done with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray analyses (EDS). This study revealed that triaxial blending of the ceramic raw materials is a beneficial method for glaze production and gold-bronze surfaces are obtained in glazes G 9, G 26, and G 34. It is observed that chemical composition of the glazes directly influence the color and the amount of CuO is more significative than MnO for achieving gold-bronze effect.