Properties of pulverized kaolin particles via ball-to-powder weight ratios milling process: XRF and Zetasizer particle size analysis

Kaolin particles were pulverized in order to reduce the size by using high-energy ball milling under various ball-to-powder weight ratios. The elemental composition and particle size analysis of milled kaolin particles were carried out using X-ray fluorescence and Zetasizer particle size analyzer. The increased in ball-to-powder weight ratios have raised the amounts of oxide minerals such as K2O, MgO, Fe2O3, TiO2, CaO, SO3 and LOI in the kaolin particles while reducing the concentration of SiO2, Al2O3, P2O5, and MnO as compared to the control sample. Kaolin particles reached an average of 944nm in size after milling for 4hr under ball-to-powder weight ratio of 4, which is much smaller than unpulverized kaolin particles at the average mean size of 9.985µm. The energy dissipation has produced a very strong energy impacts and fractures in order to produce the number of collisions between balls and container wall in the high-energy ball milling process to allow the reduction of particles size of kaolin. This enables kaolin particles to be reduced in size and produced in the practically simple, effective, and low-cost process using high-energy ball milling. However, the continuous milling has caused the particles to agglomerate as a way to release the excessive specific surface energy and micro strains produced by high-energy ball milling.