Applied Clay Science 54 (2011) 47–52

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Applied Clay Science

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Research paper

Influence of aging on the technological properties of clays in the ceramic industry

Roberta Gaidzinski a,⁎, Jamil Duailibi Fh. b, Luís Marcelo Tavares a
a
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ. Cx. Postal 68505, CEP 21941-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
b
Divisão de Processamento e Caracterização de Materiais, Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia (INT), Av. Venezuela 82. CEP 20081-312, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The use of stockpiling systems in the ceramic industry provides significant improvements in the properties of
Received 22 October 2010 clays when compared to the use of freshly mined material. Clays are stored for some time before entering the
Received in revised form 11 July 2011 production plant. This work reports the influence of aging on the technological properties of clays. The
Accepted 17 July 2011
moisture content showed the greatest influence to the exposure. The improvement of such technological
Available online 25 August 2011
properties also depended on the initial properties of the clays. Finally, the results suggested that aging would
Keywords:
be beneficial during certain periods of the year.
Clays © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Aging

1. Introduction
Storing freshly mined clays in stockpiles and subjecting them to
the action of environmental elements during a reasonable period of
time before entering the production process is a practice often used by
the ceramic industry to improve the technological properties of the
clays. Aging improves the rheological behavior of the clays, in
particular the plasticity, and improves the workability of the clay
during ceramic processing, such as drawing and pressing (Abajo,
2000; Bender, 1989). Building stockpiles with clays, prior to their use,
also improves the homogeneity of the material (Bender, 1989; Lorenz,
1996), a practice that reduces the variability of the properties of the
ceramic products.
Unfortunately, the mechanisms of aging of the clays are not yet
thoroughly understood. Some researchers attributed the effect to
chemical factors, such as changes of the electric charge of the clay and
the oxidation of the organic matter (Abajo, 2000). On the other hand,
a number of studies explained the effect of aging as being primarily
the result of the action of biological factors. Organic acids, mainly
citric, gluconic and oxalic acids released during the bacterial growth
through oxidation of inorganic sulfur or nitrogen compounds are
capable of solubilizing Fe + 3 and Al + 3 ions from the clay mineral
structures (Abajo, 2000; Baranov et al., 1985; Groudeva and Groudev,
1995; Vaiberg et al., 1980; Velde, 1995). These affect the layer charge,
the specific surface area, as well as the pH of the dispersions, which
could contribute to increased plasticity (Abajo, 2000). Moreover,
some microorganisms are responsible for the secretion of poly-
saccharides, which can bridge the clay mineral particles, increase the
⁎ Corresponding author at: Centro Universitário Estadual da Zona Oeste (UEZO) Av.
Manuel Caldeira de Alvarenga, 1203 - Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Tel.: + 55
21 23336934.
E-mail address: rgaidzinski@ig.com.br (R. Gaidzinski).
plasticity and reduce the shrinkage during drying (Abajo, 2000). Other
authors (Gaidzinski et al., 2009), however, demonstrated that the
indigenous microorganisms did not contribute to the improvement of
the clay properties during aging.
Besides these chemical and biological mechanisms, physical
mechanisms are cited as also being responsible for the improvement
of the technological properties of clays during aging (Abajo, 2000;
Lorenz, 1996). During this process, water molecules placed in
metastable positions evaporate, whereas water molecules of the air
become fixed in more stable positions. The relocation of water
molecules to occupy positions of greater stability apparently occurs
more slowly at low moisture contents. However, at higher moisture
levels, it occurs more effectively and quickly. The increased moisture
content could also result in a better dispersion of the particles within
the stockpile (Abajo, 2000; Lorenz, 1996).
An appropriate understanding of the mechanisms during aging of
clays may allow a more efficient application of this important stage in
industrial ceramic processing. In addition, the understanding of the
relation between the climatic conditions to which clays are exposed
and the benefit brought by aging will allow its more rational and
effective use in different geographical regions.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Clay samples
Samples of two clays from Itaboraí´s deposit (Rio de Janeiro State)
called as “red” and “green”, and a clay sample from Santa Gertrudes´
deposit (São Paulo State), both from Brazil, were collected for the
study. The choice of these raw materials was made on the basis of
their different chemical and mineralogical compositions.
After being extracted from their deposits, the samples were
properly stored in sealed plastic bags. In the laboratory, the samples

0169-1317/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.clay.2011.07.011
48 R. Gaidzinski et al. / Applied Clay Science 54 (2011) 47–52
were air-dried, crushed by using a laboratory smooth double roll
crusher, blended and quartered by building a longitudinal pile, aiming
to guarantee the samples to be as representative as possible of the
original material collected. Representative samples of about 10 kg
were prepared from each clay.
2.2. Aging
The 10-kg samples were placed in 20-liter uncovered plastic
containers and subjected to aging outdoors and indoors. For outdoor
aging, the samples were placed in the yard behind the laboratory,
located in the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), thus exposing them to
environmental action, including rainfall and sun. For indoor aging, the
samples were stored without sunlight or rain, therefore to more
limited temperature and moisture changes. An additional sample was
used for the characterization of the unaged clays.
Samples were aged six months, with sample collection in month
and bi-month periods. The testing procedure consisted of measuring
the enzymatic activity. This is an important property to assess the
microbiological activity in the material (Gaidzinski et al., 2009). For
those tests, small amounts of the clays were taken with a sterile
spatula, from different depths, within the container. The samples were
divided by coning and quartering.
2.3. Initial characterization of the unaged samples
The chemical composition of the raw materials was determined by
X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Loss on ignition and moisture
content were determined by gravimetric methods. The plasticity of
the clays was determined according to Associação Brasileira de
Normas Técnicas (1984a,b) by calculating the Atterberg indices:
plasticity limit (LP), liquid limit (LL) and plasticity index (PI).
Particle size analyses were conducted initially by wet sieving down
to the 63 μm sieve; subsequently, by gravity sedimentation in an
Andreasen pipette.
Mineralogical analyzes were conducted only for the b2 μm
fraction. The identification of the clay minerals present was carried
out with the aid of X-ray diffraction patterns (original, heated and
reacted with ethylene glycol) (Jackson, 2005), whereas the estimation
of the proportion of illite in each clay was conducted by measuring the
K2O content by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (Santos, 1998). The
b2 μm fraction was obtained by letting the clay suspensions dispersed
using an ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) solution settle in a beaker
for 24 hours. The supernatant was then carefully siphoned with the
aid of a pipette, dried at 100 °C in an oven, and then, deagglomerated.
2.4. Analyzes after aging
Chemical characterization consisted of the measurement of pH of
the aqueous dispersion (Thomas, 1996), redox potential by using
potentiometric methods (Patrick et al., 1996) and measurement of the
amount of organic matter by the Walkley and Black method (Paula
and Duarte, 1997). Cation exchange capacity was determined by
methylene blue adsorption (American Standard for Testing Materials,
1999).
Biological characterization was conducted by measuring the
enzymatic activity (Adam and Duncan, 2001). Eight replicates of
each sample were prepared, as well as a reference. Statistical analyzes
consisted of Q tests at 90% confidence (Ohlweiler, 1984).
For the technological tests, the samples were first screened by
using the 590 μm sieve and granulated by wetting the samples with
water, until a moisture content of 6.5% (dry basis) was reached. If the
moisture content of the sample after aging was N6.5%, the sample was
dried in air for a maximum of four days, with the moisture content
controlled daily. The samples were then maintained in sealed plastic
bags for 24 hours to ensure uniform distribution of the moisture. Test
bodies measuring 11.4 × 2.5 × 1.0 cm were then formed by uniaxial
pressing at 30 MPa.
After drying at 110 °C, the apparent density and flexural strength
of the test bodies were measured. The samples were sintered in air at
1050 °C, with a heating/cooling ramp of 10 °C/min, maintaining them
at the set temperature for 1 h. The following parameters were then
measured: apparent density, linear retraction, flexural strength
(American Standard for Testing Materials, 1988b), water absorption
(American Standard for Testing Materials, 1988a) and loss on ignition.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Characterization of samples prior to aging
Itaboraí clays present low silica (SiO2) and high alumina (Al2O3)
content, whereas the opposite occurs for Santa Gertrudes clay
(Table 1). The contents of alkaline oxides (Na2O and K2O) are high
for Santa Gertrudes and low for the Itaboraí clays. The contents of
earth-alkali oxides (CaO and MgO) in the Santa Gertrudes clay were
high, which may indicate the presence of carbonates (Monteiro and
Vieira, 2004).
The qualitative mineralogical characterization of b2 μm fraction
indicated the presence of illite and kaolinite in the red Itaboraí clay,
kaolinite, illite and smectite in green Itaboraí clay and kaolinite, illite
and interstratified smectite-vermiculite in the Santa Gertrudes clay.
Semi-quantitative mineralogical analysis (Santos, 1998) of this size
fraction resulted in estimates of 9% illite content in the red Itaboraí
clay, 24% in the green Itaboraí clay and 47% in the Santa Gertrudes
clay.
Size analyzes results shown in Table 2 demonstrated the presence
of large amounts of material contained in the clay sizes (b2 μm) for
Itaboraí clays, with a comparatively lower content for Santa Gertrudes
clay. According to the Atterberg plasticity index for extruded products
(Marsigli and Dondi, 1997), red Itaboraí clay showed optimal
plasticity (15–25%), green Itaboraí clay was highly plastic (25–35%),
whereas Santa Gertrudes clay showed low plasticity (10–15%)
(Table 2). The low plasticity of Santa Gertrudes clay is consistent
with its comparatively lower amount of b2 μm particles, predomi-
nantly represented by clay minerals.
Table 3 reports the results of chemical and biological character-
ization of the unaged Itaboraí and Santa Gertrudes clays. Itaboraí
green clay had a comparatively higher initial moisture content. Santa
Gertrudes clay was mildly alkaline, whereas the Itaboraí clays were
acidic due to the lower contents of alkali and earth-alkali ions (Ca + 2,
Mg + 2, Na + and K +), as well as to the presence of organic matter
(Thomas, 1996). The redox potentials (Eh), within the interval of
−100 to +100 mV, characterize the samples as reducing clays. The
lower absolute value for the Santa Gertrudes clay signaled the
predominance of metabolism of strictly anaerobic microorganisms.
The redox potential for the Itaboraí clays is typical of metabolism of
strictly aerobic microorganisms (Patrick et al., 1996). Furthermore,
the Itaboraí green clay had a higher cation exchange capacity due to
the presence of smectite.
3.2. Properties of the aged clays
3.2.1. Indoors aging
The Itaboraí red clay revealed, after six months of aging, a loss of
moisture and organic matter of about 74% and 41% (Table 3). Cation
exchange capacity was reduced after the 4th month of exposure.
However, the other chemical and biological properties of the clays did
not show statistically significant changes during the whole time of
indoors exposure.
The moisture content of Itaboraí green clay did not change during
the whole time of exposure. With the sole exception of the organic
matter, which decreased by about 12%, no significant changes were
 R. Gaidzinski et al. / Applied Clay Science 54 (2011) 47–52 49

Table 1
Chemical composition of the clays (mass %).

Clay sample Al2O3 SiO2 TiO2 Fe2O3 CaO Na2O MgO K2O P2O5 Mn2O3 *LOI

Itaboraí red 31.58 42.47 1.49 9.35 – 0.06 0.25 0.71 0.07 – 14.04
Itaboraí green 25.46 47.87 1.11 7.62 0.06 0.13 1.25 1.92 0.08 0.04 14.46
Santa Gertrudes 15.05 69.62 0.70 5.28 0.81 1.98 2.55 3.78 0.19 0.04 8.20

*Loss on ignition.

Table 2
Physical properties of the clays.

Clay Coarse sand Fine sand Silt Clay Plasticity (%)

(2–0.2 mm) (0.2–0.05 mm) (0.05–0.002 mm) (b 0.002 mm)
LP LL PI

Itaboraí red 3.6 3.2 35.2 58.0 27.39 49.80 22.5

Itaboraí green 8.0 4.6 21.4 66.0 36.24 69.00 32.8
Santa Gertrudes 30.6 21.8 25.6 22.0 22.30 34.20 11.9

LP: plastic limit, LL: liquid limit, PI: plasticity index.

observed during aging. Nevertheless, the flexural strength, prior to
sintering, was increased by 31% after aging (Table 4).
Samples of Santa Gertrudes clay showed a limited increase of the
moisture content during aging. After the 4th month of exposure, the
cation exchange capacity and flexural strength of both sintered and
non-sintered samples were significantly reduced (Tables 3 and 4). A
loss of organic matter of about 58% was also observed (Table 3).
3.2.2. Outdoors aging
The Itaboraí clays samples revealed a similar response to outdoors
aging. During the first four months of exposure, the moisture content
and the flexural strength, prior to sintering, increased significantly,
but chemical and biological property changes were not observed. In
the last two months of exposure, however, moisture content,
enzymatic activity (aerobiosis) and flexural strength, prior to
sintering, were considerably reduced (Tables 5 and 6). For the
Itaboraí red clay, a reduction of the cation exchange capacity was also
observed during this period. The reduction in organic matter during
the entire exposure period was of 45% and 29% for the Itaboraí red and
green clays (Table 5).
In the case of the Santa Gertrudes clay, the moisture content was
reduced during the first four months of aging. During this period, the
cation exchange capacity decreased, the enzymatic activity (aerobi-
osis and anaerobiosis) increased and the strength, prior to sintering,
decreased. In the last two months of exposure, the moisture content
decreased. Unlike in the case of the Itaboraí clays, this reduction was
not accompanied by changes in the other properties. A 58% loss of
organic matter during the entire exposure period was also observed
(Table 5).
3.3. Response to aging
A statistical analysis of the flexural strength data of the non-
sintered samples and the moisture content was carried out by using a
two-factor variance analysis (ANOVA) (Hogg and Ledolter, 1987),
considering the effects of aging time and type of exposure (Table 7).
The analysis demonstrated that the different clays did not respond the
same way to aging. Time and type of exposure (indoors, outdoors)
influences on the moisture content were highly significant. The same
was found for the flexural strength of the unsintered Itaboraí red and
Santa Gertrudes samples, whereas statistically significant effects of
exposure time and type were not found for the Itaboraí green sample.
It is important to emphasize that the measurement of the technolog-
ical properties that include the green body strength of all bodies was
conducted with the initial moisture content of 6.5% (dry basis), as
described above.
The more significant variations of several properties of the clays
were observed for outdoors aging. In some cases, direct and inverse
correlations were identified among some properties, with the rainfall
and the average temperature during exposure (Table 8).
In general, as observed for the Itaboraí clays, the significant
increase of the moisture content was followed by an increase of the

Table 3
Chemical and biological characterization of the clays after aging indoors.
a b c d
Sample Aging time Moisture E.A (ng/min.g) Eh pH O.M. CEC
(months) (%) (mV) (g/kg) (meq/100 g)
Aerobiosis Anaerobiosis

Itaboraí red 0 15.43 (0.30) 30.4 (0.01) 21.5 (0.01) 125.1 4.7 2.2 6.3
1 6.97 (0.00) 53.7 (0.01) n 129.9 4.7 1.7 8.7
2 5.25 (0.15) 20.2 (0.00) n 160.2 4.7 1.6 8.5
4 4.24 (0.30) 42.0 (0.01) 0.0 (0.00) 112.1 4.8 1.3 8.2
6 4.01 (0.04) 13.1 (0.03) 0.2 (0.00) 111.5 4.6 1.3 3.0
Itaboraí green 0 7.12 (0.03) 74.4 (0.02) 3.0 (0.00) 98.9 4.8 1.7 9.0
2 8.12 (0.13) 34.3 (0.01) 0.5 (0.00) 96.2 4.6 1.7 8.7
4 7.95 (0.30) 12.7 (0.01) 0.9 (0.00) 113.8 4.8 1.5 8.2
6 7.15 (0.12) 10.7 (0.01) 0.6 (0.00) 101.8 5.0 1.5 7.7
Santa Gertrudes 0 3.70 (0.05) 37.8 (0.00) 0.4 (0.02) − 43.2 7.8 1.9 5.5
1 3.97 (0.00) 47.3 (0.01) 1.5 (0.00) − 85.0 8.3 1.9 5.2
2 4.40 (0.01) 40.0 (0.00) 0.4 (0.00) − 58.7 7.8 1.9 5.2
4 4.16 (0.08) 26.4 (0.01) 0.4 (0.00) − 93.1 9.1 1.0 3.2
6 4.11 (0.06) 17.1 (0.00) 0.8 (0.00) − 72.3 8.3 0.8 3.3
a
Enzymatic activity, bOxidation and reduction potential, cOrganic matter, dCation exchange capacity. Standard deviation in parentheses. n: no data measured.
50 R. Gaidzinski et al. / Applied Clay Science 54 (2011) 47–52

Table 4
Technological properties of the clays after aging indoors.

Non-sintered Sintered
e (%)
Sample Aging time Density Flexural strength LOI Density Flexural strength Water absorption Linear retraction
(months) (g/cm3) (MPa) (g/cm3) (MPa) (%) (%)

Itaboraí red 0 1.96 (0.03) 2.06 (0.25) 14.78 (0.06) 1.87 (0.07) 5.19 (0.59) 17.72 (0.42) 3.91 (0.09)
1 1.97 (0.04) 2.36 (0.24) 14.52 (0.07) 1.97 (0.06) 6.70 (0.91) 16.95 (0.28) 4.36 (0.36)
2 1.95 (0.04) 2.07 (0.19) 14.60 (0.06) 1.92 (0.05) 5.24 (0.67) 17.26 (0.65) 4.32 (0.43)
4 1.92 (0.03) 2.04 (0.23) 14.73 (0.20) 1.89 (0.03) 5.12 (0.47) 17.32 (0.13) 3.75 (0.08)
6 1.90 (0.03) 1.77 (0.30) 14.38 (0.04) 1.84 (0.04) 4.45 (0.16) 19.79 (0.32) 3.78 (0.03)
Itaboraí green 0 2.19 (0.07) 2.24 (0.51) 14.73 (0.06) 2.21 (0.06) 6.52 (1.50) 9.93 (0.10) 5.42 (0.10)
2 2.16 (0.04) 2.94 (0.33) 14.91 (0.08) 2.10 (0.07) 7.52 (0.79) 9.74 (0.08) 4.62 (0.55)
4 2.18 (0.03) 2.46 (0.42) 14.76 (0.09) 2.15 (0.03) 7.95 (0.93) 9.57 (0.09) 4.72 (0.07)
6 2.17 (0.03) 2.33 (0.69) 16.28 (0.81) 2.21 (0.02) 7.74 (0.14) 9.69 (0.00) 5.37 (0.39)
Santa 0 2.07 (0.05) 3.00 (0.51) 8.76 (0.33) 2.33 (0.03) 28.03 (1.98) 0.35 (0.04) 6.75 (0.07)
Gertrudes 1 2.04 (0.04) 3.53 (0.12) 8.96 (0.04) 2.30 (0.05) 31.39 (1.28) 0.33 (0.11) 6.95 (0.11)
2 2.10 (0.04) 3.00 (0.13) 9.25 (0.07) 2.39 (0.05) 29.15 (2.54) 0.45 (0.07) 6.96 (0.15)
4 2.15 (0.05) 2.26 (0.14) 8.72 (1.65) 2.40 (0.11) 27.16 (1.20) 1.27 (0.04) 6.73 (0.68)
6 2.03 (0.02) 2.16 (0.23) 7.14 (0.04) 2.38 (0.02) 26.77 (4.64) 2.22 (0.09) 6.57 (0.20)
e
Loss on ignition. Standard deviation in parentheses.

flexural strength of the unsintered samples, which was directly
related to the plasticity. In analogy, the large reduction of the moisture
content within a certain period of outdoors aging corresponded to the
reduction of the flexural strength, prior to sintering (Table 6). The
literature suggests that factors such as mineralogical composition, size
distribution, clay mineral fraction, lamellar habit of the clay minerals,
layer charge, the presence of organic matter, the cation exchange
capacity (but also the nature of the exchangeable cations) have great
influence on the plasticity of the samples (Dondi et al., 2008;
Fernandes et al., 1998; Hajjaji et al., 2010; Modesto and Bernardin,
2008). However, our results showed that the increase of the flexural
strength of non-sintered samples was neither correlated to an
increase of the cation exchange capacity nor to the amounts of
organic substances. These results can indicate that increased plasticity
may not be directly associated to chemical parameters such as organic
matter and cation exchange capacity.
The enzymatic activity during the exposure period, both indoors
and outdoors, oscillated (Tables 3 and 5). More significant differences
were observed only for the outdoors samples, when enzymatic
activity was considerably reduced during periods of low rainfall
succeeding the rainiest periods. This may point to a reduction of the
bacterial population during this period. According to the literature,
swelling and contracting of the particles due to moisture changes
could be harmful to the survival of the microbial populations. This
enzymatic activity reduction could be related to the difficulty
microorganisms have to cope with such drastic climatic changes
(Kostopoulou and Zotos, 2005; Van Gestel et al., 1993). Moreover, the
increase in moisture content and the flexural strength of unsintered
clay products were not accompanied by an enzymatic activity
increase. This fact could suggest that the microbiological action is
not directly related to the aging process, as observed before
(Gaidzinski et al., 2009).
The results also demonstrated that chemical parameters such as
pH and redox potential (Eh) as well as the size distribution of the clay
particles did not significantly change during the period of the
experiment.
Consumption of some organic matter by microorganisms during
the entire exposure period was observed for all clays, both indoors
and outdoors, although the reduction was minor during the indoors
aging of the Itaboraí green clay. According to the literature, raw
materials with large amounts of fine particles, as for the green clay,
can hinder the mineralization of the organic substance. This can
possibly occur due to the physical confinement of microorganisms in
small pores, which makes them less active (Baldock and Skjemstad,
2000; Wang et al., 2003). The type of organic matter in the clays could
also influence these results. The ease with which the organic
substance is decomposed by microorganisms depends on the type
of organic components. For instance, organic components that contain
large quantities of aromatic substances are more difficult to
decompose (Egli et al., 2006).

Table 5
Chemical and biological characterization of the clays samples exposed to aging outdoors.
a b c d
Sample Aging Moisture E.A (ng/min.g) Eh pH O.M. CEC
time (%) (mV) (g/kg) (meq/100 g)
Aerobiose Anaerobiosis
(months)

Itaboraí red 0 15.43 (0.30) 30.4 (0.01) 21.5 (0.01) 125.1 4.7 2.2 6.3
1 38.42 (0.50) 39.9 (0.02) 0.4 (0.00) 130.5 4.7 1.6 7.5
2 44.19 (0.22) 21.2 (0.00) n 125.5 4.7 1.6 6.7
4 38.39 (0.65) 26.6 (0.00) 0.9 (0.00) 101.5 4.7 1.2 6.7
6 13.70 (0.07) 8.9 (0.04) 1.5 (0.00) 134.4 4.7 1.2 2.5
Itaboraí green 0 7.12 (0.03) 74.4 (0.02) 3.0 (0.00) 98.9 4.8 1.7 9.0
2 29.64 (0.29) 11.2 (0.01) 3.8 (0.00) 91.4 5.0 1.7 6.7
4 28.65 (0.31) 21.3 (0.01) 4.4 (0.00) 90.2 4.8 1.2 6.7
6 12.44 (0.25) 9.7 (0.00) 2.5 (0.00) 96.6 5.1 1.2 7.5
Santa Gertrudes 0 3.70 (0.05) 37.8 (0.00) 0.4 (0.02) − 43.2 7.8 1.9 5.5
1 27.37 (0.06) 36.8 (0.00) 4.4 (0.00) − 51.1 7.7 1.9 4.0
2 27.46 (0.93) 102.3 (0.01) 12.2 (0.00) − 57.6 7.9 1.7 3.7
4 26.26 (0.70) 83.6 (0.01) 4.9 (0.00) − 57.5 7.7 1.2 3.5
6 9.47 (0.15) 36.2 (0.01) 7.4 (0.00) − 107.7 8.9 0.8 3.5
a
Enzymatic activity, bOxidation and reduction potential, cOrganic matter, dCation exchange capacity. Standard deviation in parentheses. n: no data measured.
 R. Gaidzinski et al. / Applied Clay Science 54 (2011) 47–52 51

Table 6
Technological properties of clays after aging outdoors.

Non-sintered Sintered
e (%)
Sample Aging time Density Flexural strength LOI Density Flexural strength Water absorption Linear retraction
(months) (g/cm3) (MPa) (g/cm3) (MPa) (%) (%)

Itaboraí red 0 1.96 (0.03) 2.06 (0.25) 14.78 (0.06) 1.87 (0.07) 5.19 (0.59) 17.72 (0.42) 3.91 (0.09)
1 2.01 (0.03) 2.67 (0.32) 15.19 (0.08) 1.98 (0.04) 7.15 (1.20) 16.96 (0.62) 4.03 (0.40)
2 2.07 (0.04) 3.30 (0.44) 15.42 (0.17) 2.02 (0.03) 7.42 (1.20) 16.75 (0.21) 4.17 (0.22)
4 1.94 (0.03) 2.27 (0.33) 14.81 (0.15) 1.88 (0.03) 5.51 (0.70) 17.20 (0.01) 3.70 (0.02)
6 1.95 (0.02) 1.75 (0.28) 14.54 (0.16) 1.90 (0.03) 5.93 (0.70) 17.62 (0.51) 3.75 (0.06)
Itaboraí green 0 2.19 (0.07) 2.24 (0.51) 14.73 (0.06) 2.21 (0.06) 6.52 (1.50) 9.93 (0.10) 5.42 (0,10)
2 2.25 (0.04) 2.63 (0.14) 15.09 (0.09) 2.20 (0.02) 6.81 (0.50) 9.69 (0.00) 5.08 (0.65)
4 2.25 (0.05) 2.85 (0.50) 14.93 (0.08) 2.23 (0.05) 7.26 (1.68) 9.72 (0.04) 4.66 (0.60)
6 2.05 (0.03) 1.86 (0.18) 16.36 (0.42) 2.08 (0.04) 4.85 (0.68) 10.50 (0.40) 5.26 (0.18)
Santa 0 2.07 (0.05) 3.00 (0.51) 8.76 (0.33) 2.33 (0.03) 28.03 (1.98) 0.35 (0.04) 6.75 (0.07)
Gertrudes 1 2.25 (0.04) 2.63 (0.95) 7.60 (0.05) 2.20 (0.03) 30.56 (1.90) 0.24 (0.02) 6.79 (0.15)
2 2.25 (0.02) 2.85 (0.31) 7.03 (0.08) 2.23 (0.02) 27.60 (1.80) 0.95 (0.15) 6.46 (0.06)
4 2.05 (0.05) 1.86 (0.02) 7.83 (0.46) 2.08 (0.06) 27.19 (2.40) 1.08 (0.00) 6.23 (0.13)
6 2.19 (0.05) 2.72 (0.28) 7.02 (0.31) 2.24 (0.05) 23.32 (2.50) 1.27 (0.18) 6.29 (0.09)
e
Loss on ignition. Standard deviation in parentheses.

3.4. Aging process and initial properties of clays content may not benefit from aging. This conclusion is consistent with
previous observations (Gaidzinski et al., 2005).
The response of the clays may also be associated to the initial In short, samples of the three clays studied presented a similar
properties of the clays such as plasticity, particle size distribution and response to exposure outdoors during periods of low rainfall between
moisture content. periods of heavy rainfall. The high loss of moisture in short periods
For the Itaboraí red clay, aging outdoors appeared to be more was harmful to the properties of the raw material, evidenced by the
favorable, leading to a statistically significant increase of the flexural loss of the mechanical properties. All these results reveal that
strength of the non-sintered samples (Table 7). This improvement of significant climatic variations must be prevented. The time of the
the technological properties seems to be related mainly to the year when the clay is exposed to aging is a very important factor for
increase in the moisture content of the samples. On the other hand, the success of the operation. These observations were also verified by
exposure indoors was not favorable due to the loss of moisture of the previous studies (Gaidzinski, 2002; Gaidzinski et al., 2005).
samples over time, resulting in the reduction of the flexural strength
of the non-sintered material. Therefore, in the case of aging of this clay 4. Conclusions
indoors, it would be advisable to use canvases for covering the
stockpile to prevent moisture loss over time. Indeed, this is a Aging of clays generally improved some technological properties,
procedure often used in the ceramic industry (Fugmann, 1989). as shown by the increase in flexural strength of the samples – both
In the case of the green Itaboraí clay with greater moisture before and after sintering – and the reduction of water absorption.
retention capacity, higher initial plasticity and finer particles, the Distinct clays responded differently to aging. Aging place and time
exposure of samples to aging seems more favorable when carried out significantly influenced the moisture content of the clays, but did not
indoors, since the samples did not lose significant amounts of show a significant influence on the flexural strength of non-sintered
moisture over time. That increases the plasticity and flexural strength material in the case of the Itaboraí green clay with high initial plasticity
of the non-sintered samples during the period of exposure. and high content of fine particles. For clays with low initial moisture,
In the case of the Santa Gertrudes clay, the significant increase of the clay mineral content and plasticity, aging did not result in a measurable
moisture content during outdoors aging did not increase the flexural improvement of the properties of the clay for ceramic processing.
strength of the non-sintered samples. In the case of exposure indoors, Within this context, one of the main results is that the effectiveness of
when the moisture content was maintained relatively constant, the aging depends on the initial properties of the clays such as plasticity,
flexural strength of the non-sintered samples did not increase. This particle size distribution, moisture content, and composition.
demonstrates that not all clays will benefit from aging. Thus, clays with Indoors and outdoors exposures led to significantly different
low proportions of clay minerals, low plasticity and very low moisture changes in the clays. In the case of clays with limited moisture
retention, indoor aging was not favorable, so that aging should only be
performed if the stockpile is covered by canvases to limit moisture
Table 7 loss. An alternative would be the use of water addition by dripping on
Statistical analysis from two-factor analysis of variance (p values). the top of the stockpiles. In the case of clays with high initial plasticity
Measured property Effect Clay
Table 8
Itaboraí Itaboraí Santa Monthly precipitation and average temperature of the period of exposure of the clay
red green Gertrudes samples to aging.
Non-sintered flexural Time of 0.000004 0.024883 0.000012
Months Aging time Average temperature Monthly precipitation
strength exposure
(months) (°C) (mm)
Place of 0.000739 0.573811 0.000431
exposure March 0 24.7 112.8
Interaction 0.000711 0.326825 0.001039 April 1 24.4 116.6
Moisture content Time of b0.000001 b0.000001 b 0.000001 May 2 22.4 51.8
exposure June 3 21.2 30.0
Place of b0.000001 b0.000001 b 0.000001 July 4 19.8 67.6
exposure August 5 21.9 5.4
Interaction b0.000001 b0.000001 b 0.000001 September 6 20.9 49.6
52 R. Gaidzinski et al. / Applied Clay Science 54 (2011) 47–52
and moisture retention, aging indoors might be more advisable. Aging
outdoors became unfavorable during drought periods after high
rainfall, reducing the technological properties that were achieved
during the initial period of exposure. In addition, the moisture content
of the material has to be reduced to achieve the required value for
pressing. The initial properties of the clays are essential in the
planning of the clays aging procedure, mainly the selection of the
appropriate place for aging, i.e., indoors or outdoors.
The moisture content was identified as one of the main factors
responsible for the increase of the flexural strength of the non-sintered
samples during aging. In general, the increase in the moisture content
could be directly related to the increase of the flexural strength of the
non-sintered clays, whereas changes of the chemical properties (cation
exchange capacity and organic matter content) were not observed.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the financial support from the
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico of
Brazil, CNPq. The authors also thank Dr. Patricia Osterreicher-Cunha for
her assistance in the analysis of the microbiological characterization
results.
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