The impact of kaolin dehydroxylation on the porosity and mechanical integrity of kaolin based ceramics using different pore formers

Thermally induced lattice defects in kaolin play a key role in the mechanical integrity of kaolin based ceramics during heat treatment due to their phase transformations. The effects of three types of pore formers (sawdust, styrofoam and powdery high density polyethylene) on the porosity and mechanical integrity of kaolin based ceramics have been studied based on their batch formulations. The porosity of the ceramic bodies was experimentally determined, while the structure and chemistry of the materials were elucidated via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FTIR, DSC/TG/DTA, and zeta potential. The kaolin-based porous samples sintered at 1150 °C exhibited mullite phase transformation attributed to recrystallization effects. Morphologically, open pores were distributed on the sample surfaces due to larger pathways and available channels of eviction of the pore formers. Compressive strength decreased linearly as apparent porosity increased signifying its correlation. The compressive strength showed to be much more sensitive to defects created by dehydroxylation as micro cracks were observed on the sample with HDPE as pore former which could be as a result of large volume change accompanying phase transformations and sensitivity to the dehydroxylation phase. It is noted that the new pore former (HDPE) used in this study produced ceramic bodies with porosity as high as 67% and hence the least compressive strength.