Refinement of industrial kaolin by microbial removal of iron-bearing impurities

The commercial value of kaolin raw materials is greatly affected by the presence and content of iron-bearing impurities, which can have a detrimental effect on the whiteness and refractoriness of manufactured products. Because of the high cost and environmental impact of techniques currently used to remove these impurities, some effort is now targeted toward the development of alternative methods, such as biological processes. This paper reports a series of anaerobic microcosm experiments conducted to evaluate the suitability of iron-respiring bacteria (IRB) of the Shewanella species (S. alga BrY, S. oneidensis MR-1, S. putrefaciens CN32, and S. putrefaciens CIP 8040), in bioleaching iron-bearing impurities from raw kaolin. All tested bacterial strains were able to reduce and leach ferric iron present in the kaolin, thereby substantially improving its color properties. Among the tested bacteria, S. putrefaciens CIP8040 produced the greatest improvements, with increases in ISO brightness and whiteness from 74% to 79% and from 54% to 66%, respectively, in 5 days at 30 °C. Neither secondary mineral nor crystal-chemical alteration of the kaolinite was observed by X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. Observations of the biotreated kaolins by scanning electron microscopy showed that the original hexagonal shape of the clay particles became less regular. Further research and development should now focus on optimising the rate and extent of the bioleaching process before its application at a larger pilot or industrial scale. In particular, further studies should evaluate the environmental and economical benefits compared to currently used approaches, such as the chemical bleaching with sodium hydrosulfite.