Top 3 industries proving Kaolin is the best mineral - 2022 Guide

Kaolin mineral is one of the most versatile minerals used for industrial purposes. It enhances strength in tiles & ceramics, surface functionality in the paper industry or performance of paints & coatings along with other industries.

It is an adaptable & economical mineral that improves the functionality & performance of the end products & thus reducing the manufacturing cost by a significant margin.

Aryan Tiles provide pure-grade Kaolin minerals to a variety of industries, including paper, paint, fibreglass, cosmetics, and medicines.

Let’s start by understanding What is Kaolin?

Kaolin, comes from the rock Kaolinite. It was first discovered in the village of China province named “Kao-ling” and this is where it gets its name. It is also known as ‘China Clay’.

It has an earthy, granular texture and is available in various colours such as white, grey, yellow, beige and in brown or orange shades if it has more iron constituents. 

It is a soft mineral and ranks 2-2.5 on MoH’s hardness scale and can be crafted in any shape when it is wet. It lacks lustre and is opaque‌ or translucent.

The chemical composition of Kaolin is Al₂Si₂O₅ (OH₄). It is mined from the regions of Brazil, Australia, Vietnam, South Africa, France, USA, among many other countries globally. In India, we mine Kaolin from the regions of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala, West Bengal and Jharkhand. 

Now, let's learn about the physical properties of Kaolin that make it such a versatile mineral to be sued among several industries.

The physical properties of Kaolin are:

• High brightness,
• Fine particles
• Remains white after calcinations
• Non-abrasiveness
• Poor conductivity of heat and electricity 
• Easily dispersed in water
• Low absorption of oil

These properties play a significant role in making Kaolin a highly efficient mineral but do you know there are several variations within Kaolin?

These are Hydrous Kaolin, Metakaolin and Calcined Kaolin.

Hydrous Kaolin has fine particles with plate-like shapes and inertness in terms of chemical reactivity, whereas, Metakaolin is created by the process of calcination of Kaolin. It is a white mineral additive which is most popularly used in cement-based products. 

And, Calcined Kaolin is made by heating the finest natural kaolin to high temperatures in a kiln. This calcination process changes the size and shape of the particles, enhances the whiteness and hardness of the mineral and improves its electrical conductivity.

Kaolin is made commercially in the form of dry powder, semi-dry powder, noodle or slurry.

Now, let's understand through examples what makes Kaolin mineral a favourite for several industries.

Ceramic industry: Kaolin has been used in tableware & ceramics for thousands of years. It can be used as a filler or main constituent in the manufacturing process of ceramic tiles & tableware. This leads to enhanced flexibility & strength. The Kaolin which has low-iron content is usually white & works as a whitening agent for sanitary ware & white-coloured ceramic tiles & tableware.

Paper Industry: The high physical properties of Kaolin such as low abrasion, fine particles, and better viscosity make it a very important mineral in the paper industry. It improves surface functionality and adds lustre, fluidity, printability, and better barrier performance.

The Calcined Kaolin imparts high brightness and brilliant opacity to the paper and almost reduced the manufacturing cost by 80% as compared to Titanium dioxide.

Overall, it makes the paper have better smoothness, shine, opaqueness & printability along with being cost-efficient.

Paints & Coatings Industry: Kaolin mineral enhances the functionality of the paints by adding high gloss, making it weather & corrosion resistant, lowering the absorption of oil, increasing its opacity & enhances its film formation and ink dispersibility. The best part is that it decreases the cost of manufacturing paint formulations significantly.

We can see that Kaolin is a highly economical & versatile mineral from the above examples but it is crucial to understand the needs of your particular industry and end product and We at Aryan Tiles work exactly on this.

We offer a customized range of Kaolin mineral clays so that we can optimize end products according to our clients' industries and reduce their production costs.

Connect with us to know how you can reduce your manufacturing cost and optimize your product performance using our Kaolin mineral.