INFLUENCE OF ZEOLITE ON THE CONCENTRATION OF ALKALINE ACTIVATOR IN RICE HUSK ASH BASED GEOPOLYMER MORTAR

Abstract

The research aims to prepare a geopolymer mortar with rice husk ash (RHA) and zeolite. The use of RHA as a geopolymer binder that has a higher silica and low alumina content, reduces the polymerisation process. Zeolite is a natural aluminosilicate material containing the alumina content required for the polymerisation process. The compressive strength and microstructure properties of the geopolymer mortar were examined at various molar RHA and zeolite concentrations and proportions. Two different curing processes were used in this study, namely heat and ambient curing conditions. The results indicated that the compressive strength of the geopolymer mortar decreases with an increase in the proportion of zeolite. The heat curing seems to be more beneficial than the ambient curing regime. Also, an increase in the sodium hydroxide concentration increases the compressive strength of the prepared geopolymer mortar up to 12 M. The optimum percentage of zeolite replacement was found to be 10%.

Keywords

• geopolymer binder
• compressive strength
• x-ray diffraction pattern
• fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy
• scanning electron microscope