15 APR 2024 · Speaking of ceramic glaze applications and technical defects, one of the strangest and most interesting is the "TV effect". It consists of a preferential migration of the glaze towards the perimeters of the tile that produces in those areas a thickening of the glaze. The unaesthetic result is a quite regular surface swelling along the edge of the ceramic material.  A result that recalls the old cathode-ray television sets and that may be visible even after the firing cycle. What is exactly the TV effect?  How does it manifest itself and what are the causes? What can we finally do to prevent the problem?

1 APR 2024 · Viscosity (or viscous friction coefficient) measures a substance attitude on generating friction between its layers. In other words, it defines the resistance of the fluid to its proper flow. The barbottina's viscosity values - that is the suspension of inorganic raw materials, water and dispersants that after the atomization process will form under the weight of the presses the raw ceramic body - can sometimes rapidly and suddenly change, and grow. In the event of an excessive or out of standard increase, many critical issues may occur, compromising the use of the watery system or even forcing producers to repeatedly stop the production line. What are the main causes that can significantly affect the viscosity values of the slip and what do we need to know the proptly act, avoiding the worst-case scenarios?

18 MAR 2024 · All process water involved in ceramic production, both tap and well waters, usually contains bacteria. And the same applies to inorganic raw materials used in the grinding process to produce the semi-finished products that will later be applied along the glazing line: frits, clays, feldspar, nepheline, etc.  Because of the huge amount of water use, glazes and engobes grinding departments can sometimes be under the attack of significant bacterial proliferations. Microorganisms' activity (especially that of bacteria) is able to decrease or even nullify the action of chemicals that should provide suspensions with the right features to develop a proper application, also ensuring outstanding technical and aestethic results. In this perspective, what are the main consequences of bacterial degradations?

4 MAR 2024 · Thanks to the digitalization of some of its processes, the ceramic industry has evolved pretty significantly over the last few years, and in this perspective the digital printing system plays one of the most important roles. In fact, the use of digital inks has made it possible to almost totally replace the old decoration systems. Their formulation and therefore their production is very delicate and complex, since it must strictly comply with specific parameters. What are digital inks? What are their components and their most important properties? The episode tries to give simple answers to those questions, offering a short identikit of this important category of products.

19 FEB 2024

12 FEB 2024 · In general, wet grinding systems offer best performances and best production results only when the chemical and physical features of slips are constant over the duration of the entire process. More precisely, this happens when the main parameters of the atomized product (such as grain size, density, viscosity, and thixotropy) remain within a very short range. However, slurries may suddenly change their rheological features during production. Sometimes drastically. What are the main elements that may affect, positively or negatively, the proper rheology of the barbottina and what do we need to know to prevent and avoid fluctuations, therefore preserving the proper features of suspensions?

12 FEB 2024 · Formaldehyde, despite its wide use in many fields of the industrial production, in high percentage may be a serious problem. In Ceramics, it must be carefully checked since it can seriously and negatively affect the environment. What do we need to know about this topic?

29 DEC 2023 · Rheology is the science that deals with the flow and the strain rate of matter. It’s a branch of Physics that studies the origin, the nature and the deformation’s characteristics of a matter under the influence of external forces, with particular regard to non-Newtonian liquids. Its main goal is to define the correlations between causes (forces) and effects (deformations and flows), identifying all mechanisms that are the basis of the different rheological behavior on a microscopic and molecular scale. The episode offers an overview about the most important rheological behaviors of ceramic suspensions: barbottine, glaze and grit suspensions, engobes and inks. All these mixtures, in fact, in order to develop a good application and avoid serious problems along the production lines, must be marked by proper rheological features. Which ones?

11 DEC 2023 · The episode focuses on the flocculation phenomena of ceramic mixtures. The problem is marked by a progressive aggregation of solid particles and it often takes place due to phenomena of electrostatic attraction between the clay micelles in suspension. This process leads to a significant increase in viscosity within the system, negatively affecting the proper development of the production process. The episode offers a general overview about ceramic mixtures, focusing on the corrective action of some specific chemicals, able to develop and trigger an opposite process that provides the ceramic mixture with the proper features, restoring the parameters required for a good development of the process. With particular reference to the three major mechanisms underlying the deflocculation process: - Electrostatic repulsion by cationic exchange - 2. Steric repulsion - 3. Complexation

27 NOV 2023 · The lack of cohesion that occurs not only between the glaze’s particles but also between the glaze and the raw ceramic support can lead to a problem commonly called "dusting phenomenon". This kind of glaze, that we could define as fragile, is easily removable from the ceramic surface, especially when it undergoes to the mechanical solicitations that take place along the production line. What happens inside the glaze and what can we do to prevent and to properly manage the problem?