Natural pozzolan-and granulated blast furnace slag-based binary geopolymers

This study describes the synthesis at ambient temperature (25±3 °C) of binary geopolymer systems based on natural volcanic pozzolan and granulated blast furnace slag. Na2SiO3 and NaOH were used as alkaline activators. The effects of the SiO2/Al2O3, Na2O/Al2O3 ratio and the amount of slag added (from 0 to 30%) on the reaction kinetics, compressive strength and microstructure of the final product were studied. To characterise the geopolymer pastes, techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used. The results indicate the possibility of obtaining a geopolymer cement with a compressive strength of up to 48.11 MPa after 28 days of curing at ambient temperature whose characteristics are comparable to those of commercial portland cement.