Investigation of the effect of wall tile ceramic glaze compositions on digital ink performance

With the development of technology, the production of ceramic tiles with high resolution and aesthetic appearance is gaining value day by day. With the adaptation of inkjet digital printing technology to the ceramics industry, a great improvement has been achieved in the decorative and application properties of ceramic products, which is reflected in the added value of these products. The aim of this study was to examine the performance of the colors printed using the inkjet digital printing method by adding raw materials containing different oxides to a standard wall tile matte glaze recipe, and to determine the effects of the raw materials on the color perception. L-a-b color test and gloss measurement from the developed glaze surfaces were performed with a Konica Minolta spectrophotometer device. The color-gamut scale printed on the wall tile surface was transferred to the digital environment as a profile by reading the color values with the X-rite i1 profiles device. The thermal characteristics and melting behaviour of the glazes were determined with the Misura ODHT HSM 1600-80 heat microscope. It was observed that the gamut volumes of glazes containing calcite and wollastonite were wider than the glaze recipe with dolomite added, and the colors were more saturated and vivid in the prints made on glazes containing these raw materials. It has been determined that the recipe with the addition of kaolin is significantly effective in yellow printing and the same design can be obtained by using less yellow ink.