flux

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flux In ceramics, any substance that promotes vitrification when mixed with clay. When the ware is fired, the flux melts, filling the porous clay form. As the piece cools, it hardens, becoming glossy and non-porous. Fluxes include felspathic rock, silica and borax. In metallurgy, a flux is added to the charge of a smelting furnace to purge impurities from the ore and to lower the melting point of the slag.

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