Red Iron
Iron is commonly used as a colorant in its red iron oxide form as (Fe2O3). Red iron oxide is commonly used to produce earthy reds and browns. It is the metal responsible for making earthenwares red. Iron is also another tricky colorant because of its ability to yield different colors under different circumstances. At low percentages (.5-1%) and in the presence of potassium, iron will become light blue or light blue-green in reduction (as is seen in traditional celadons). In the presence of barium, iron may become yellow green. When used in combination with calcium, red iron oxide can become pale yellow or amber in oxidation or green in reduction. Common percentages for red iron oxide range from (4 up to 10%).
Read more about this topic: Ceramic Colorants
Famous quotes containing the words red and/or iron:
“Every one of my friends had a bad day somewhere in her history she wished she could forget but couldn’t. A very bad mother day changes you forever. Those were the hardest stories to tell. . . . “I could still see the red imprint of his little bum when I changed his diaper that night. I stared at my hand, as if they were alien parts of myself . . . as if they had betrayed me. From that day on, I never hit him again.””
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“Culture is a sham if it is only a sort of Gothic front put on an iron building—like Tower Bridge—or a classical front put on a steel frame—like the Daily Telegraph building in Fleet Street. Culture, if it is to be a real thing and a holy thing, must be the product of what we actually do for a living—not something added, like sugar on a pill.”
—Eric Gill (1882–1940)