Effects of micronization on optical property of ceramic pigments for digital ink-jet printing

Digital ink-jet printing technique, which uses ceramic pigments as colorant, has been widely applied in the ceramic industry. In general, the ceramic pigments synthesized with conventional methods have particle sizes of several micrometers, and pigment particles of such sizes induce the nozzle clogging problem of print head in the ink-jet printing process. In this study, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) ceramic pigments were micronized to the particle sizes suitable for digital ink-jet printing through high energy milling process. The effects of micronization process on the pigment properties such as the particle morphology, crystal structure, and L*a*b* color changes were investigated in detail.