Abstract
Abstract“Kaolinites” from classic, large deposits of kaolin are shown commonly in scanning electron micrographs to be mixtures, at least in part, in microdimensions, of kaolin-mineral polymorphs.Artificial mixtures of selected kaolin polymorphs simulating the natural mixtures, also micrographed, show crystallinities intermediate between the crystallinities of the end members in X-ray powder diffractograms. Thus, apparent crystallinity interpreted from diffractograms of a kaolin specimen may be a product of kaolin-mineral mixture in microdimensions as well as from ordering in the crystals. Evaluation of the crystallinity of a kaolin from powder diffraction may be suspect if independent means, such as SEM, are not used to assess the monomineralic character of that kaolin specimen.Analogous to the apparent crystallinity of a “kaolinite” being the product of a mixture, so may other widely ranging properties of “kaolinite” be products of kaolin-mineral mixtures in microdimensions. These properties include DTA, IR, chemical composition, free energies of formation, and industrial applications.Specifications for a monomineralic, nearly ideal kaolinite are considered—the Keokuk geode variety possesses desired crystallographic and chemical properties.
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