Preliminary characterization and potential use of different clay materials from North-Eastern Morocco in the ceramic industry

Abstract

The first part of this work relates to the characterization of raw clay materials and the second part is to the evaluation of the potential use of clay-rich raw materials in the region of Nador (northeast, Morocco) to manufacture ceramic products. In this regard, physical (particle size distribution, organic matter), chemical (X-ray fluorescence, XRF), mineralogical (X-ray diffraction, XRD), and geotechnical (Atterberg limits) analyses were carried out on the materials studied. The results show that the main minerals in the samples were feldspars and cristobalite, while carbonates are ubiquitously present. Smectite was present as the dominant clay phase and minor phases of smectite kaolinite, illite, and kaolinite, including chlorite, also appeared in some samples. The results showed that the studied clay materials require the addition of another type of clay or less plastic materials to improve their properties and to be suitable for the production of structural ceramics.