Red Clay as a Raw Material for Sustainable Masonry Composite Ceramic Blocks

Samardzioska, Todorka; Peshevski, Igor; Zileska Pancovska, Valentina; Golaboski, Bojan; Jovanovski, Milorad; Abazi, Sead

doi:10.3390/su17156852

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Red Clay as a Raw Material for Sustainable Masonry Composite Ceramic Blocks

by

Todorka Samardzioska

^1,*

,

Igor Peshevski

¹,

Valentina Zileska Pancovska

¹,

Bojan Golaboski

²,

Milorad Jovanovski

¹ and

Sead Abazi

¹

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia

²

Civil Engineering Institute Makedonija, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sustainability 2025, 17(15), 6852; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17156852

Submission received: 15 June 2025 / Revised: 22 July 2025 / Accepted: 26 July 2025 / Published: 28 July 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Protection and Sustainable Ecological Engineering)

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Abstract

The pursuit of sustainable construction practices has become imperative in the modern era. This paper delves into the research of the properties and application of a specific material called “red clay” from the locality “Crvena Mogila” in Macedonia. A series of laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of the material. The tested samples show that it is a porous material with low density, high water absorption, and compressive strength in range of 29.85–38.32 MPa. Samples of composite wall blocks were made with partial replacement of natural aggregate with red clay aggregate. Two types of blocks were produced with dimensions of 390 × 190 × 190 mm, with five and six holes. The average compressive strength of the blocks ranges from 3.1 to 4.1 MPa, which depends on net density and the number of holes. Testing showed that these blocks have nearly seven-times-lower thermal conductivity than conventional concrete blocks and nearly twice-lower conductivity than full-fired clay bricks. The general conclusion is that the tested red clay is an economically viable and sustainable material with favourable physical, mechanical, and thermal parameters and can be used as a granular aggregate in the production of composite ceramic blocks.

Keywords: red clay; sustainable; thermal conductivity; nature-based solution; composite

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MDPI and ACS Style

Samardzioska, T.; Peshevski, I.; Zileska Pancovska, V.; Golaboski, B.; Jovanovski, M.; Abazi, S. Red Clay as a Raw Material for Sustainable Masonry Composite Ceramic Blocks. Sustainability 2025, 17, 6852. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17156852

AMA Style

Samardzioska T, Peshevski I, Zileska Pancovska V, Golaboski B, Jovanovski M, Abazi S. Red Clay as a Raw Material for Sustainable Masonry Composite Ceramic Blocks. Sustainability. 2025; 17(15):6852. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17156852

Chicago/Turabian Style

Samardzioska, Todorka, Igor Peshevski, Valentina Zileska Pancovska, Bojan Golaboski, Milorad Jovanovski, and Sead Abazi. 2025. "Red Clay as a Raw Material for Sustainable Masonry Composite Ceramic Blocks" Sustainability 17, no. 15: 6852. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17156852

APA Style

Samardzioska, T., Peshevski, I., Zileska Pancovska, V., Golaboski, B., Jovanovski, M., & Abazi, S. (2025). Red Clay as a Raw Material for Sustainable Masonry Composite Ceramic Blocks. Sustainability, 17(15), 6852. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17156852

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Red Clay as a Raw Material for Sustainable Masonry Composite Ceramic Blocks

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