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Mineralogical and physicochemical characterization of clayey materials from Meiganga (Adamawa-Cameroon): potential application in traditional ceramic

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Abstract

Clayey materials from three sites (Bengoubou, Mbezar and Vourou) located in Meiganga (Cameroon) which are traditionally used for pottery were studied. For each sites, two samples were collected and investigated by particles size distribution, XRF, DTA/TG, XRD, IR, physical and firing properties from 900, 1000 and 1100 °C. In term of mineralogy, investigated clays are mainly consisted of kaolinite and quartz, other as illite, albite, goethite and montmorillonite appear as minor phases. Physicochemically, results show wide particle size variations with a high fraction of sand (27–60%). Clay fraction (< 2 μm) ranges from 14 to 44% and silt fraction from 15 to 29%. The major chemical oxides are SiO2 (45–67%) and Al2O3 (17–24%), followed by Fe2O3, MgO, TiO2 and K2O. The pallets obtained from some selected clay samples after curing present an increase of linear shrinkage range to 6–7% and 7–8% for specimens cured at 900 and 1100 °C, respectively. Similarly, the flexural strength increases with the temperature of firing to 4–6 MPa and 9–12 MPa, for 900 and 1100 °C. Whereas, the water absorption for these specimens decreases from 16 to 3%. From the results obtained on mineralogical, physicochemical and ceramic properties, it can be noted that the studied clayey materials are suitable for the manufacture of ceramic materials.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Dr Abdouramani Dadje for resources fund necessary for these investigations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mining Engineering, Laboratory of Extractive Metallurgy and Valorization of Mineral and Energy Resources, School of Geology & Mining Engineering, University of Ngaoundere, Ngaoundere, Cameroon

    Albertine Sam-Tunsa Alarba, Jacques Richard Mache & Mominou Nchare

  2. Local Materials Promotion Authority, MINRESI/MIPROMALO, P.O. Box 2396, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Noela Epey & Achile Nana

  3. Research Unit of Noxious Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon

    Achile Nana

  4. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Douala, P.O. Box 24157, Douala, Cameroon

    Sylvain Tome

  5. Department of Civil Engineering, University Institute of Technology (IUT), University of Douala, P. O. Box. 8698, Douala, Cameroon

    Sylvain Tome

Authors
  1. Albertine Sam-Tunsa Alarba
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  2. Noela Epey
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  3. Achile Nana
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  4. Sylvain Tome
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  5. Jacques Richard Mache
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  6. Mominou Nchare
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Contributions

Albertine Sam-Tunsa Alarba: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, writing - original draft. Noela Epey: Writing - review & editing. Achile Nana: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - review & editing Investigation. Sylvain Tomé: Writing - review & editing. Jacques Richard Mache: Writing - review & editing. Mominou Nchare: Writing - review & editing.

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Correspondence to Albertine Sam-Tunsa Alarba or Achile Nana.

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Sam-Tunsa Alarba, A., Epey, N., Nana, A. et al. Mineralogical and physicochemical characterization of clayey materials from Meiganga (Adamawa-Cameroon): potential application in traditional ceramic. J Build Rehabil 7, 65 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41024-022-00203-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41024-022-00203-z

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