備前焼模様の微構造と形成過程

抄録

Bizen stoneware, with the characteristic reddish hidasuki or “fire-marked” pattern, is one of Japan's best known traditional ceramic works of art. We investigated the microstructure and color-formation process in Bizen stoneware, and discovered that the hidasuki pattern resulted from the precipitation of corundum (α-Al₂O₃) and the subsequent epitaxial growth of hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) around it in a ～50 µm-thick liquid specifically formed in the ceramic surface. The epitaxial composites include hexagonal plate-like α-Fe₂O₃/α-Al₂O₃/α-Fe₂O₃ sandwiched particles. At low oxygen partial pressures, α-Fe coated graphite, Fe₃P and ε-Fe₂O₃ were also formed to appear.