Synthesis of CoAl2O4/Al2O3 nanoparticles for ceramic blue pigments

Abstract The demand for pigments for industrial ceramic ink-jet printing is increasing steadily. The main challenge is the availability of ceramic pigments comprised of small-sized particles in order to avoid clogging of the printer head nozzle. This work presents a novel way to prepare ceramic blue pigment as a shell/core structure of CoAl 2 O 4 /Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles through a simple and low-cost process. In this process, the colour tone of nano-pigment can be tuned by the selection of the cobalt precursor/Al 2 O 3 ratio and calcining temperature.