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-Al
2O
3) and the subsequent epitaxial growth of hematite (α-Fe
2O
3) around it in a ~50 µm-thick liquid specifically formed in the ceramic surface. The epitaxial composites include hexagonal plate-like α-Fe
2O
3/α-Al
2O
3/α-Fe
2O
3 sandwiched particles. At low oxygen partial pressures, α-Fe coated graphite, Fe
3P and ε-Fe
2O
3 were also formed to appear.
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