AbstractsChemistry

"The standard method for producing opacity and to some extend [sic] mattness in a glaze has always been the use of small amounts of tin oxide. This oxide, however, is very expensive and tends to fluccuate [sic] in price over a wide range due to world market conditions. The ceramic industry, therefore, has been searching for some substitutes for the tin oxide with some success. At the present time zinc oxide, antimony oxide, and zirconium oxide are used with varying degrees of success as opacifiers. Zirconium oxide and compounds are less soluble than the other oxides previously used. Therefore, it is greatly possible that zirconium compounds should produce crystalline structure in lower percentages than the other oxides. With this knowledge it is the object of this experiment to determine the possibilities of the uses of zirconium compounds at percentages capable for commercial use in producing the same effects as tin oxide" – Introduction, p. [1].