DEVELOPMENT OF ENAMEL FOR CERAMIC WARES DECORATION USING LOCAL RAW MATERIALS FROM SELECTED DEPOSIT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Enamel is a low melting temperature coloured glass used in a bid to decorate or beautify ceramic and glass wares. This is usually made from the composition of silicas and, feldspar, calcium carbonate, fluxes, opacifiers and some different types of metallic oxides. It is observed that most enamels used by contempory potters are imported even with the availability of required raw materials for their production I Nigeria. The use of enamel on ceramic products would encourage buyers to acquire the product, this in turn promote sales and bring more income to the studio potters. This research is centered on the production of ceramic enamel from selected deposits in Nigeria. The raw materials were silica sourced from Igbokoda, calcium carbonate from Okpella and feldspar from Ijero Ekiti. These various raw materials were used to formulate compositions of enamel, mixed with some ratios of opacifiers, fluxes and labeled as A, B1, B2, C1, C2, D1 and D2. The compositions were pulverized to form a powder, placed in a crucible and fired in muffle kiln to a temperature of 1200oC using a thermocouple as the temperature measuring device. The crucibles were removed from the kiln after melting and placed in a metal bucket containing water for fritting. The frits were then milled into a powdery form using a jar. Three mixing media were used to test the effect of the enamel on some produced wares using screen printing and brush as the method of enamel application. It was observed from the result gotten that composition A, B1, B2, C1, C2 were good for the production of enamel when used to decorate ceramic wares using textile paint as the mixing media while brush and screen printing were used as the printing techniques. From the research, the test carried out showed that the enamel produced exhibits a good water, basic, fade and acidic resistance.