Characterizations of Pergau River Clay as Comparison to Mambong and Sayong

Abstract

Clay as pottery’s raw material is a major factor that is affecting the quality and reliability of any pottery product. The clay source areas need to be well determined their geochemical properties in order to control the end properties of clay product. Pergau river is located in the northwest of Kelantan, a state in Malaysia. In this study, elemental and phase analysis of Pergau river clay was carried out. The baked clay products were characterized their density and toughness. X-ray fluorescence showed the clay is rich with Fe and X-ray diffraction showed low concentration of feldspar compared to other known clay source areas, which are Sayong and Mambong. Fewer feldspar content decrease toughness of the pottery product. However, some location showed the comparable result with the Sayong and Mambong. The clay is high in density, low in shrinkage percentage and excellent in mechanical strength compare to other clays collected from Pergau River.

Enhancement of Singgora Roof Tile Using Chemical Modification Method

“…Based from the literatures [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], silica and alumina are common compounds in clays. Iron rich clay in this study are common in Kelantan state, which gave reddish color of the clay products including Singgora roof [4,6]. The high amount of SiO2 in clay will increase the amorphous phase in the microstructure [8].…”