The predominantly used red glass pigment today is
based on Cadmium, an element hazardous to the
environment and toxic to humans. Two possible
alternatives are glasses coloured by copper or gold,
but there are several problems with their industrial
production. The aim of this work has been to obtain a
better understanding of gold and copper rubies, and
also to investigate other combinations of elements.
The impact of different reducing agents on the copper
and gold ruby pigments was examined and the colour
development in copper ruby glasses was studied
extensively. Experimental results...