Prospecting and characterization of plastic clays from the state of São Paulo, Brazil, as raw materials for porcelain stoneware tile production

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Abstract The present work aims to prospect and study the plastic and superplastic clay deposits in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, as a source of raw materials for the ceramic tile industry and especially for the production of porcelain stoneware tiles. To achieve the proposed objectives, a geological study was carried out through the mapping and identification of the present lithologies, lithogeochemical characterization using X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, cation-exchange capacity and organic carbon and characterization of the ceramic technological properties, including granulometric analysis by sedigraph and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface area. According to their geological characteristics, the studied deposits were classified into two types: a detrital sedimentary deposit, restricted to Quaternary alluvial sediments and Neogenic Tertiary formations and composed of silt-sandy clay and plastic, kaolinitic, refractory and silico-aluminous facies; and an alterite type, found in Permo-Carboniferous rocks of the Paraná Basin, composed of laminated/massive weathering siltstones, with the highly plastic, fluxing clay minerals illite, kaolinite and smectites. Among the targets studied in these deposits, argillaceous facies with plastic and superplastic characteristics were identified, which affect their applicability in compositions for producing porcelain stoneware tiles and stoneware.