A Waste Valorization Study on Pond Ash Based Geopolymer Mortar Incorporating Basalt Powder

This paper assesses the valorization of waste materials of pulverized pond ash (PPA) and basalt powder (BP) as a blend to form room temperature (RT) cured geopolymer mortar (GPM). Geopolymer (GP) binders were developed by using sodium-based alkaline activators and 5% BP was incorporated to partial replacement PPA in 0 to 20% increments. The ratio of liquid to solid was varied at 0.48 to 0.54 in order to determine its effect on strength development. M-sand was taken as the fine aggregate to ensure a uniform quality of the particles. Based on the results, the addition of BP enhanced binder reactivity in RT curing conditions and enhanced matrix densification and promoted the formation of more gels. The mixture with the liquid to-binder proportion of 0.50 and 15% BP replacement exhibited the better compressive strength (fc) among all the mixes. The findings reveal that both PPA and BP collaborate to deliver a sustainable and structurally sound GPM which can be applied in building environments with no heat curing.