Mineralogy of some Indian Kaolinitic clays and crystalline of Kaolinite

Abstract

The three kaolinite clays viz. Travancore, Rajmahal China clays and a Ball clay were examined for their mineralogical composition by different technique such as chemical analysis, differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. X-ray, d. t. a., base exchange electron microscope studies indicated that Travancore China clay is a relatively well crystallized kaolinite. Rajmahal China clay ranks next to Travancore in crystallinity but the hexagonal morphology of kaolinite could not be clearly seen in a electron micrographs. This may be due to intimate association of fine mica and hence difficulty in having good resolution. Ball clay shows smaller crystals of kaolinite and the morphology of kaolinite is clearly manifested. From X-ray, d. t. a.., and base exchange studies, it appears to be b/3 disordered type.