CEMENT, CERAMIC & CONCRETE

Every ceramic industry has its own “body” composition articulated by raw materials and various clays. Due to low cost and tradition some industries use sodium silicate and sodium carbonate as deflocculants. The uses of alkaline substance are likely to induce change crystallography or chemical composition of the clays used in the ‘body’. The slip produced this way is rather sticky. On the other hand, STPP/SHMP suffer reversion or degradation to orthophosphates through hydrolysis during grinding in ball mills. Orthophosphates are not active dispersants; they are anions that may actually favor flocculation or settling. Innovative processes of ceramics manufacturing involve the use of organic auxiliaries in order to provide to the ceramic body the right flow behavior and cohesion properties. When preparation of ceramic bodies is done via the slip phase, the use of hydro soluble polymers is most of the time required.