Process of preparation of synthetic fire opal
OwnerRajneesh Bhandariinventor
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Abstract
A synthetic fire opal and a process for its preparation. Synthetic fire opals have similar physical and chemical properties as natural fire opals. Synthetic fire opals are colored, hard, and transparent. The process of preparation of synthetic fire opal includes; mixing TEOS with absolute ethanol (99.9%), distilled water, concentrated nitric acid, and an inorganic salt to form a clear sol, storing the clear sol to obtain a gel, drying the gel and sintering the dried gel to obtain a synthetic fire opal.
Claims20
A process for preparing a fire opal for use in jewelry and ornaments, the process comprising the steps of:
- a. mixing at room temperature and atmospheric pressure ethanol, nitric acid, distilled water, and at least one inorganic salt colorant, to obtain a homogeneous reaction mixture;
- b. adding tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) to this homogeneous reaction mixture to obtain a clear sol;
- c. gelating the clear sol at room temperature to obtain a gel;
- d. drying the gel at temperatures ranging from 50° C. to 100° C. to obtain a colored and transparent material;
- and,
- e. sintering the dried gel at temperatures ranging from 250° C. to 800° C. to remove the organic part of the colored and transparent material in order to obtain a uniformly colored, silica matrix which is transparent and hard.
A process for preparing a fire opal for use in jewelry and ornaments, the process comprising the steps of:
- a. mixing at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, ethanol, nitric acid, and distilled water and at least one inorganic salt colorant, to obtain a homogeneous reaction mixture;
- b. to this homogeneous reaction mixture adding tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) to obtain a clear sol;
- c. gelating the clear sol at room temperature for a time period ranging from 5 to 10 days to obtain a gel wherein the gelatin step comprises the step of storing the clear sol at room temperature;
- d. drying the gel at temperatures ranging from 50° C. to 100° C. in a laboratory furnace to obtain a colored and transparent material;
- wherein the drying comprises the step of maintaining the temperature for a few hours before cooling;
- and
- e. sintering the dried gel at temperatures ranging from 250° C. to 800° C. to remove the organic part of the colored and transparent material to obtain a uniformly colored, transparent and hard fire opal;
- wherein the sintering comprises the step of maintaining the temperature for a few hours before cooling.
A process for preparing a fire opal for use in jewelry and ornaments, the process comprising the steps of:
- a. mixing a precursor for silicon, at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, with a solvent, a catalyst, distilled water, and at least one inorganic salt colorant, to obtain a clear sol;
- b. gelating the clear sol at room temperature to obtain a gel;
- c. drying the gel at temperatures ranging from 50° C. to 100° C. to obtain a colored and transparent material;
- and
- d. sintering the dried gel at temperatures ranging from 250° C. to 800° C. to obtain a uniformly colored, silica matrix material which is transparent and hard.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.