Green ceramic pigment based on chromium recovered from a plating waste

Abstract The development of pigments with new formulas, departing from lower-cost raw materials, is driven by market growth and competitiveness required by the ceramic sector. In this work, the application of a residue from a metallurgical plant, containing a high amount of chromium (III) in ceramics glazes was studied. Cr2O3 was successfully separated from chrome plating waste resulting in a suitable synthesize ceramic pigment, based on this chromophore. A washing treatment was applied to the residue followed by a calcination at 1000 °C prior to the usage as pigment. The adequate purity of Cr2O3 recovered from waste was confirmed by analytical techniques (XRF, XRD, DTA-TG, FTIR and SEM-EDX). The glasses, containing 5 wt% of recovered Cr2O3, were carried out using frits and transparent micronized glass for mono- and double firing processes. The materials were characterized by XRD and FTIR, and by the colorimetric parameters CIELab. The resulting glazes containing the waste are within the range of typical pigments based on Cr2O3 in silicate and aluminate glazes for single firing, showing dark green hues in comparison with the previous data obtained from commercial grade Cr(III) oxide. However the presence of small amounts of the other chromophores in the waste modifies the tonality, affecting the purity of the chroma by increasing darkness. The leaching tests performed on the glazes suggest that Cr(III) is stable in this ceramic matrix. This results show that glazing is a suitable process for the Solidification/Stabilization of this waste.