Effects of oxalic acid addition on the hydrothermal synthesis of kaolinite

Kaolinite was hydrothermally synthesized from alumina gel and silicate by dissolving alumina gel in oxalic acid before it was mixed with silicate, effects of the amount of addition on the species of synthetic products were discussed. The reaction product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that analcite is the only phase of the reaction solution without oxalic acid, the proportion of kaolinite in product increases with the amount of addition, and kaolinite is the main species when the molar ratio of oxalic acid to alumina reaches 0.6: 1.0. This is because oxalic acid addition is beneficial to the formation of kaolinite through changing the coordination number of aluminium from four to six, while the mixture of alumina gel, before it was dissolved in oxalic acid with silicate interfered with the crystallization of kaolinite.