NaOH-activated ground fly ash geopolymer cured at ambient temperature

NaOH-activated ground fly ash geopolymers, cured at room temperature, were studied in this paper. Ground fly ash (GFA), with a median particle size of 10.5 mu m, was used as source material. NaOH concentrations of 4.5-16.5 M (M) were used as an alkali activator. Compressive strength tests and microstructure observations using SEM, EDX, XRD and FTIR were performed. Results indicated that GFA gave higher strength geopolymer paste compared to original fly ash. Ground fly ash could be used as a source material for making geopolymers cured at room temperature. An increase in NaOH concentration from 4.5 to 14.0 M increased the strength of GFA geopolymer pastes. Microstructure studies indicated that NaOH concentrations of 12.0-14.0 M created new crystalline products of sodium aluminosilicate. The compressive strengths at 28 days of 20.0-23.0 MPa were obtained with the NaOH concentrations of 9.5-14.0 M. Increasing the NaOH concentration beyond this point resulted in a decrease in the strength of the paste due to early precipitation of aluminosilicate products. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.