Digitalfire Ceramic Oxides Directory

Logged in as Level 2 access: Logout


FeO (Ferrous Oxide)

FamilyColorant
Weight81.800

Notes

-Fe2O3 is easy to reduce to the FeO state with a light reduction firing as follows:

Fe2O3 + CO -> 2FeO + CO2

-Some suppliers quote iron in its reduced form as part of a materials formula.

-In clays and glazes, firing in reducing conditions, or with clays containing significant organic matter, the Fe2O3 converts to FeO as early as 900C. FeO is a very powerful flux. Once iron has been reduced and becomes active in glass forming, it is difficult to reoxidize it again. For this reason, reduction firings for iron effects should be light throughout to reduce the iron early before glaze melts. They should then be fired slowly through the 250-500C range to provide adequate time for organics to burn away. A period of clearing in oxidation at the end of a firing does not affect the color of iron in the molten glass.

-FeO is so active as a flux that it can often be introduced by substituting for other fluxes like lead and calcium oxide.

-Most glazes will dissolve more iron in the melt than they can incorporate in the cooled glass. Thus extra iron precipitates out during cooling to form crystals. This behavior is true of oxidation but doubly so of reduction. For example, a typical high-temperature fluid glaze with 15% iron will freeze to a sparkling rust colored mesh of crystals.

-Many popular iron glazes and slips for pottery are based on clays highly stained with iron. For example, Albany slip was used for many years to produce a wide variety of glazes which exploited its unique blend of high iron, low melting point, moderate plasticity, low thermal expansion, low cost and unique character. For example, using Alberta Slip (an Albany substitute) one can make a tenmoku glaze with 90% Alberta slip and a little added iron and feldspar.

-If clay is not allowed to oxidize thoroughly through the 700-900C range during firing, carbon present within will rob the Fe2O3 of its oxygen and escape as CO2 leaving the FeO as an active flux within the body to break it down from within. This is called black coring.

-Iron bearing clays fire much darker in reduction than oxidation. In addition, reduction fired iron bodies experience sudden color changes from red or tan to dark brown across a narrow temperature range characteristic to each formulation. Classic iron reduction mottled effects are created by firing to the transition point where color is just changing producing light and dark patching of color as the darker color invades the surface.

-In reduction firings it can produce greens and blues (i.e. celadons), and yellows and maroons (i.e. mustard, oatmeal glazes). In higher amounts it saturates to produce crystalline deep brown and black effects (i.e. tenmoku 10-13% and kaki 13%+).

-Iron pyrite and similar minerals often contaminate stonewares and fireclays; and they are responsible for the popular speckling effects in reduction fired stonewares.

Mechanisms

  • Glaze Color - Celadon, Green

    When 1-5% iron is used in a transparent reduction glaze which has some calcia and potash (barium also helps) celadon glazes are produced. 'Celadon' glazes are glossy shades of green which exhibit depth of color due to suspended micro-bubbles in the glass.

  • Glaze Color - Rust

    A typical high-temperature fluid reduction glaze with 15% iron will freeze to a sparkling rust colored mesh of crystals. Alkaline glazes work best. Barium can impede this effect.

  • Glaze Color - Brown

    Saturated reduction iron glazes normally firing to black in reduction will move toward brown if alumina is high, toward blue if alumina is low.

  • Glaze Color - Blue

    The presence of phosphorous pentoxide, lithia and soda also encourage blue in both normal and saturation conditions in reduction firing.
    Iron glazes will move toward blue if alumina is low.

  • Glaze Color - Black

    Classic reduction black-breaking-to-brown tenmoku glazes are made with 8-12% iron.

Out Bound Links

  • (Materials - Closest material equivalent) Iron Oxide Black - Fe3O4 - Ferrous ferric oxide, Synthetic Magnetite

    Fe3O4, Black Iron Oxide, BIO, Magnetite Powder, Iron(II,III) Oxide

  • (Oxides) Fe2O3 - Iron Oxide, Ferric Oxide

Pictures
This is what about 8% iron can do in a transparent base glaze with slow cooling at cone 10R on a refined porcelain.


A cone 10 reduction stoneware clay containing iron stone concretions ground to 20 mesh


Since iron oxide is a flux in reduction, overglaze iron based pigments run if applied to thickly


The same glaze in reduction (left) and oxidation at cone 10.


A cone 10 reduction tenmoku glaze with about 10% iron oxide.


Alberta slip fired in reduction (left) is much darker than in oxidation at cone 10.


Red iron oxide in a high temperature reduction fired glaze


The future of ceramic recipe, material and physical testing record keeping is here.
Watch the video or sign-up at http://insight-live.com.

Maintain your recipe database on-line

  • Login to a private account or work with others in a group account (e.g. university).
  • Nothing to install (access it using your web browser). It is always the latest version.
  • Easy to import your existing data.
  • As many side-by-side recipes as you want.
  • Many ways to search and classify glaze and body recipes.
  • Glaze and body recipes are robust, with units-of-measure, unlimited pictures with individual titles and descriptions.
  • Add variations to a recipe; each with its own pictures, descriptions and name/code-number extensions.
  • Recipes can link to typecodes, projects and firing schedules (all managed in their own areas).
  • Standard reports and mix ticket reports with last-minute-totalling; variations report as if they are a complete recipe.
  • Video tutorials, help system, contact form on every page, dedicated messaging and support ticket systems.
  • It is an industrial-strength database system (unlimited capacity, fast, reliable, scalable).

Imports many file formats

  • Glaze recipe formats supported: HyperGlaze, GlazeGhem, GlazeMaster, Matrix, INSIGHT XML recipes (single and multiple), INSIGHT SQLite DB files.
  • Assign a batch number to imports, and later search by batch.
  • Assign multiple typecodes to imported glaze and body batches (to classify) and search on these later.
  • Prepend character sequences to glaze recipe names during import.
  • Import the pictures and pair them to their corresponding records automatically.
  • One click to automatically export the database to an SQLite DB database file and download it (for use with desktop INSIGHT or just as a backup).
  • Export and import individual glaze recipes as text or XML.

Perfect for Education

  • Ceramic study programs can now accumulate material, recipe and testing data year-after-year, students can login and together build a valuable ceramic glaze and body knowledge resource.
  • Students already have internet connected devices, computers are not even needed in the class.
  • The Reference Manager gives you quick access to the Digitalfire Ceramic Reference Database.
Learn more..



Feedback, Suggestions

Your email address

Subject

Your Name

Message


Copyright 2003, 2008 http://digitalfire.com, All Rights Reserved
Get a free INSIGHT software trial

INSIGHT is ceramic chemistry
calculation software that runs on
Windows, Mac and Linux and talks
to this web site. ()