Microstructural analysis (Voigt function method) of mullite in whiteware triaxial porcelains

Triaxial porcelains were produced of two whiteware blends containing kaolin B (of “high-crystallinity” kaolinite) or halloysitic kaolin M (also with “low-crystallinity” kaolinite) in two different industrial firing cycles (fast or slow) with final temperatures 1270 °C, 1300 °C, 1320 °C and 1340 °C. The crystalline microstructure of mullite in all porcelain samples was studied by X-ray diffraction through analysing 110 and 001 reflections using the Voigt function method and by optical and electron microscopy. Mean crystallite sizes were determined independently for both 110 and 001 diffraction directions as principal semi-quantitative characteristics for all sixteen specimens. They illustrat…