Characteristics of micronized blue ceramic pigments using electric arc furnace dust

Abstract

Electric arc furnace dust (EAFD), which is a dust waste generated in the steel manufacturing process, contains heavy metals. Recently, researches of recycling a large amount of valuable metals such as zinc and iron in EAFD are being actively carried out. In this study, EAFD is used as a substitute for cobalt in blue ceramic pigments without any pretreatment. Then, the synthesized blue ceramic pigment using EAFD was micronized and formulated as a ceramic ink for inkjet printer. The particle size distribution, crystal structure and color characteristics during the micronization process were investigated for the development of ceramic ink. Co0.75Zn(EAFD)(0.25)Al2O4 ceramic pigments showed excellent blue coloric properties and monomodal distribution through micronization process. The average particle size of Co0.75Zn(EAFD)(0.25)Al2O4 ceramic pigments after 3 hours of milling was 0.271 mu m, which is smaller than 0.303 mu m, which is the average particle size of CoAl2O4 ceramic pigments without EAFD after 5 hours of milling Especially, it was confirmed that Co0.75Zn(EAFD)(0.25)Al2O4 ceramic pigments showed a color difference (Delta E-ab*) value of 5.67, which smaller than Delta E-ab* at , value of CoAl2O4 during micronization. These results show that EAFD can be used as a raw material for a blue ceramic pigment by replacing expensive cobalt without any pretreatment.