LIAO Runhua ¹, LIU Hao ¹, WANG Zhumei ¹, LI Yueming ¹, LI Lei ¹, HU Haiquan ¹, TANG Fubao ²
(1. School of Material Science and Engineering, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen 333403, Jiangxi, China; 2. Jingdezhen
Taoyuan Mining Co., Ltd., Jingdezhen 333000, Jiangxi, China)

Abstract: Research was conducted on Zisha shale samples quarried from different mines in Jingdezhen by XRD and XRF testing means to obtain their mineral and chemical compositions. Results showed that they were mainly composed of quartz, kaolinite, illite and hematite. By batching with the samples from two typical mines, the effects of milling time and water content on their plasticity were discussed, and the variation of their water absorption and shrinkage with different sintering temperatures was studied. The experimental results showed that the best performance of Zisha clay was obtained, when the batch was composed of 70% Zisha shale from Yushan mine, 25% Zisha shale from Leping mine, 5% pyrophyllite, 2% bentonite, 0.3% humic acid and 0.3% BaCO₃. Its plasticity, total shrinkage and water absorption were 16.8,9.65% and 2.54%, respectively, when sintered at 1110 ℃.
Key words: Zisha clay; plasticity; water absorption; shrinkage