This lesson explores the role of zirconium in contemporary pigments, particularly zirconium silicate-based pigments. While zirconium is absent from historical and modern pigments, it plays a role in this specific class of high-performance pigments. The focus will be on praseodymium yellow, a zirconium silicate pigment used in ceramics and as an art material.
Objectives
- Identify the significance of zirconium silicate in modern pigments.
- Explore the role of doping in creating colored pigments, with praseodymium yellow as a case study.
Materials
- Pigments Checker (Modern Art version, including praseodymium yellow).
- Pure zirconium sample for reference.
Lesson Plan
- Introduction to Zirconium in Pigments
- Discuss the absence of zirconium in historical pigments and its importance in modern zirconium silicate-based pigments.
- Highlight praseodymium yellow as the key example.
- Doping and Pigment Formation
- Describe how zirconium silicate is doped with praseodymium to produce yellow coloration.
- Spectrum Analysis
- Analyze the XRF spectrum of pure zirconium and praseodymium yellow, noting the visibility of zirconium peaks even in small concentrations.
