Characterization and thermal analysis of raw clay for ceramic product design

Clays (kaolins) are considered as one of the most important raw materials that could be considered as a suitable source for synthesis of both conventional and advanced ceramics. Nowadays, they are still used in the manufacture of ceramic products such as bricks, roofing tiles, porcelain, sanitary wares, wall tiles and floor tiles, and also are used in different industrial chemical processes. The present work focuses on the mineralogical analysis of clay material samples collected from deposits located in the south of Libya. The raw clay samples were investigated using x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRF) as well as thermal analysis (DTA and TG). The results found that, the raw clay samples have different amounts of metal oxides percentage, and the character of the clays is typically kaolin mineral.