Luster pottery from the thirteenth century to the sixteenth century: A nanostructured thin metallic film

Luster is a decorative metallic film that was applied an the surface of med ieval glazed pottery. It can be obtained via the low-temperature (similar t o 650 degreesC), controlled reduction of copper and silver compounds. In th is paper, we show that luster is a thin layered film (200-500 nm thick) tha t contains metallic spherical nanocrystals dispersed in a silicon-rich matr ix and has a metal-free outermost glassy layer that is 10-20 nm thick. Silv er nanocrystals seem to be separated from those of copper, forming aggregat es 5-100 pm in diameter. This composite structure exhibits optical properti es that are dependent on both the particle size and the matrix. Luster is i ndeed the first reproducible nanostructured thin metallic film that was mad e by humans.