Effect of sepiolite fibers addition on sintering behavior of sanitary bodies

• Sepiolite addition can cause the fluidity of slurry to get worse.
• Sepiolite addition (2%) can increase the bending strength of green and sintered body.
• The activation energy rose with the increase of sepiolite addition.

The work attempts to investigate the effect of sepiolite fibers addition on sintering behavior of sanitary bodies. Raw sepiolite was found to be associated with some impurities such as calcite, amphiboles and dolomite. Sedimentation method was used, and then washed with dilute HCl solution to prepare acid-treated sepiolite fibers. Green bodies with sepiolite fibers were shaped by slip casting process, then dried and sintered in an electric furnace. After cooling to room temperature, sintered samples were characterized by bulk density, bending strength and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that 2% sepiolite fiber addition could increase the bending strength of green and sintered bodies. Sintering activation energies were determined according to the bulk density results. It was found that the activation energy rose with the increase of sepiolite addition.