The Process, Characterization and Mechanical properties of fly ash-based Solid form geopolymer via mechanical activation

Abstract

To address the complexity associated with the conventional geopolymer, we developed solid form geopolymer (SFG), the solid-state reaction between fly ash and dry alkaline activator via ball milling for different hours at different Na2O/SiO2, H2O/Na2O ratios. The Oddity of this approach is that it obviates the direct handling of alkaline activators. Due to ball-milling increase in surface area, amorphization, the solid-state reaction between the materials, homogeneous distribution of all ingredients, and energy store in the form of defects, all changes were observed in SFG precursor. The effect of different Na2O/SiO2, SiO2/Al2O3, and H2O/Na2O molar ratios on geopolymerization gel formation and strength development characteristics of the solid form geopolymer have been reinvestigated. Various characterizing tools such as FTIR, XRD, FE-SEM, and EDAX, have been used to characterize the solid form geopolymer binder and evaluated for compressive, flexural, and split-tensile strength. The solid form geopolymer route facilitates the direct handling of alkaline chemicals and provides a greener sustainable development approach.

Keywords

• Ball-milling
• Solid form geopolymer
• Flexural strength
• Splitting tensile strength