Influences of Inhibitor and Firing Temperature on Efflorescence Reduction of Clay Products

Abstract

For ceramic industry, efflorescence is undesirable and cannot be completely eliminated from the finished products. The efflorescence is caused by soluble salts in the raw material and mostly appears as white deposit at the product’s surface. In this research, the removal of sulfate in the raw materials was studied. In addition, the sulfate ions were immobilized by forming a water-insoluble compound. The sulfate ions in the raw materials and fired products were extracted by distilled water, and the concentration was determined by using a UV-visible spectroscopy following the ASTM C1580-09 standard. Three sources of the raw materials from Tambon Suan Phung, Ratchaburi, Tambon Mae Win and Mae Ta, Chiang Mai, were analyzed for sulfate concentrations. The clay from Tambon Suan Phung, Ratchaburi which had the highest sulfate concentration was selected for further study on the effect of inhibitor and firing temperature on efflorescence inhibition. To reduce solubility of the sulfate, three kinds of inhibitor, i.e. barium chloride, barium carbonate and barium hydroxide, were added into the raw material at various concentrations, i.e. 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 wt% and homogeneously mixed by ball milling followed by the addition of distilled water to prepare the clay slip. The clay products were mold casted to 1 x 1 x 3 inch3 in size. Then, they were fired at 800, 900 and 1000 °C. It has been revealed that the addition of barium carbonate at 2 wt%, which is the highest amount employed in this study, and firing temperature of 900 °C resulted in least sulfate leaching due to the formation of water-insoluble barium sulfate. To perform a field test, the fired samples with and without the addition of barium carbonate were immersed in water for 4 months. The efflorescence was observed on the sample without barium carbonate within the 1st month. In contrast, with the addition of barium carbonate, no efflorescence was observed after testing for 4 months.