Approaching the most intense reddish yellow tone of praseodymium doped zircon pigment

Abstract Praseodymium doped zirconium silicate pigments (PrxZr1-xSiO4) were synthesized by a solid‐state reaction, and the influence of praseodymium fraction (x=0.03, 0.05 or 0.07), temperature (900, 1000, 1100 or at 1200 ◦C) and calcination time (6, 12, 24 or 48 h) was simultaneously tested to determine their effect on colorimetric properties. The chromatic properties are associated with the volume of the unit cell; thus, with the amount of Pr4+ that is integrated into the crystal structure, the ascending concentration of the Pr4+ into zircon structure increases the color intensity only in the range where the unit cell volume is close to 261 A3, lower or higher values result in pigments with lower yellow intensities. An intense reddish-yellow tone can be reached delimited by praseodymium fraction of 0.03 and 0.05, temperature between 900 and 1100 °C, and 6 h of calcination time.