Effect of Fe 2 O 3 addition on sintering behavior of cordierite ceramic obtained by solid-state sintering method

Cordierite ceramics were prepared by solid-state sintering method and kaolin; silicon dioxide and magnesium oxide were used as the raw materials with Fe 2 O 3 as the sintering addition. The effects of Fe 2 O 3 additive amount on sintering behaviors and main properties were studied in detail. As the results, Fe 2 O 3 promotes the sintering process and the cordierite phase also increases. As the sintering temperature and Fe 2 O 3 additive amount increase, the mechanism of sintering shrinkage process changes. And after 1200 °C, the porosity decreases with the increasing Fe 2 O 3 additive amount while the shrinkage percent and bulk density increase. However, excess Fe 2 O 3 will gather in the pore walls and restrain the transformation from spinel phase to cordierite phase.