Enamel, pronounced enamel, is a composite material that combines inorganic glass materials with base metal by melting. Enamel products are not only safe, non-toxic and easy to clean, but also widely used as tableware and washing utensils in daily life.
Enamel has two main components: enamel and enamel metal material.
1. Enamel embryo
Metal materials for enamel mainly include steel, cast iron, aluminum, copper and stainless steel.
Enamel steel generally refers to low carbon steel plate, that is, steel plate with low carbon content. Because its chemical composition, internal microstructure, surface state and mechanical properties play an important role in enamel quality, large manufacturers of enamel products in the market are using enamel special steel plates produced by Baosteel, WISCO, Maanshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. and Angang Steel Co., Ltd. to ensure the enamel quality of their products.
Cast iron for enamel refers to iron-carbon alloy with carbon content greater than 2. 1 1%. Mainly used in the production of sanitary ware, cookers, water supply and drainage pipes, etc.
The aluminum materials used for enamel are mainly pure aluminum and aluminum-magnesium alloy. The main copper materials used for enamel are copper, brass and bronze. Among them, copper and brass are the most widely used and representative copper enamel products. Cloisonne, for example, is a copper enamel product made of red copper.
2. Enamel
Enamel raw materials for enamel mainly include mineral raw materials, chemical raw materials and pigment raw materials.
Mineral raw materials are the main components of porcelain glaze. Mainly includes: timely, feldspar and clay.
Chemical raw materials are auxiliary components of enamel, including borax, sodium nitrate, soda ash, lithium carbonate, calcium carbonate, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, antimony oxide, zirconium dioxide, cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, manganese dioxide and iron oxide.
Pigment material refers to the material used to decorate the color of enamel. There are the following colors: black, blue, brown, gray, green, pink, white, yellow and red.
Enamel is made by mixing the above three raw materials in a certain proportion, melting them at a high temperature of about 1200℃, and then quickly cooling them into granular or flaky borosilicate glass. According to the process performance, it is divided into basic glaze, surface glaze and decorative glaze; According to the different matrix materials, it can be divided into steel plate glaze, cast iron glaze, copper glaze, aluminum enamel glaze and stainless steel glaze.