ISEC 09


MICROSTRUCTURE, TEXTURE, AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF GEOPOLYMERS PREPARED USING INDUSTRIAL WASTE

MONIKA ČÁCHOVÁ, JAROSLAVA KOŤÁTKOVÁ, PAVLA ROVNANÍKOVÁ, MAGDALÉNA DOLEŽELOVÁ, NIKOL ALBLOVÁ, PETR SVORA, EVA VEJMELKOVÁ, VÁCLAV KOČÍ, ROBERT ČERNÝ


Abstract

Geopolymers prepared by processing industrial waste present an environmental friendly alternative to the traditional binders which are characterized by very energy-demanding production. Due to an appropriate composition, fine-ground ceramic powder represents a good candidate for the production of geopolymers. In this paper, microstructure, texture, basic physical properties and compressive strength of three geopolymers with different silicate modulus (SM) are studied. Experimental results showed that the densest microstructure had the material with the lowest SM = 0.8, which also did not have any visible cracks. The open porosity and matrix density were found to increase with the increasing SM. The highest compressive strength was reached for the highest SM = 1.2. Having the compressive strength of ~38 MPa, such a geopolymer can be considered as comparable to cement based materials.

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