CHENG Ling ¹, XIAO Zhuohao ¹, XIAO Xiaodong ¹, LI Xiuying ¹, DONG Hongbo ², KONG Lingbing ¹
(1. Jingdezhen Ceramic University, Jingdezhen 333403, Jiangxi, China; 2. Linyi University, Linyi 276005, Shandong, China)

Abstract: Low-cost synthesis of cordierite ceramic materials has been widely concerned. In this study, clay, fly ash, talc and bauxite were used as the main raw materials to prepare low-expansion cordierite ceramics. The effects of composition of the raw materials and sintering condition on structural characteristics of the ceramics, such as phase content, micromorphology, thermal expansion coefficient, porosity and so on, were systematically studied. It is found that the content of talc had a significant effect on phase composition of the cordierite ceramics. When the content of talc was 33.14 wt.%, single phase cordierite ceramics can be obtained. Excessive talc would lead to the formation of spinel olivine phase. The increase in sintering temperature and time is helpful for the phase formation of cordierite. After sintering at 1300 ℃ for 3.5 h, the cordierite ceramics had a minimum thermal expansion coefficient of 2.21×10−6 ℃−1 and a strength of 36.17 MPa.
Key words: low-cost; cordierite; thermal expansion coefficient