Developing a proper nano material to use in cuisine clay pottery

Abstract

Clay pottery, originating at dawn in civilization, is a fundamental village industry primarily used as eco-friendly and health safe cookware. Currently, nonstick metal cookware is popular for convenience but poses health risks from toxic compound releasing to food. Despite its traditional use, clay cookware tends to stick food to the inner surface of pottery during cooking, limiting its functionality. Thus, this study aims to develop a proper mineral nano material to improve the nonstick properties of clay cookware, addressing a key industrial gap. Sri Lankan industrial clays, minerals and their physiochemical properties were identified through the primary data and secondary data from an industrial survey and literature review. Using Gaussian Software under computational chemistry, suitable mineral type was identified through molecular modeling and binding energy calculation to combine with the most common clay. The nonstick performance of clay and mineral combination was assessed via binding energy analysis with fat/oil molecules. Red clay is the most used material for cooking pottery, predominantly utilized by small-scale domestic manufacturers. This sector surpasses medium-scale and government supporting units in usage. Male participation is highest compared to female and both gender involvement. BE calculations show Red clay and Apatite combination has the highest stability with the highest negative BE –3177 kcal/mol. Red clay with fats/oils mixtures have negative BEs of –1552, –2142, –2117, and –1522 kcal/mol, indicating strong interactions, while the Red clay and Apatite mixture shows the positive BEs of 3212, 2376, 2450, and 3903 kcal/mol with fat/oils indicating weaker interactions with less stable systems. The Red clay and Apatite blend reduces fat/oil adhesion and enhances nonstick properties by making Apatite is the ideal mineral to collaborate with Red clay to make pottery. When considering the applying of nanotechnology, using nanoscale particles increases binding energy making the Red clay and Apatite system more stable and nonstick.