The Effect of Calcium Carbonate Added into Mambong Clay

Mambong clay is a traditional pottery that originally from Kampong Mambong, Kuala Krai, Kelantan, Malaysia. The new fabrication technique of this pottery is the slip casting technique. However, the innovation of Mambong pottery does not only limited to the fabrication technique, but also the materials used in the fabrication in order to improve its physical properties. Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is one of the materials that can be used in this fabrication as an additive due to the ability to stabilize the clay soil and improves the clay physical properties. In this study, the various CaCO3 contents (0, 5, 10, and 15%) were investigated to get the optimum amount of CaCO3 to improve the physical properties of Mambong clay by using slip casting method. Mambong clay with different amount of CaCO3 addition was compared in term of microstructure, density, porosity, shrinkage, and flexural strength.