• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2022

Due to the physical-chemical characteristics of some bottom ash (BA), there are technical, economic and environmental limitations to find a destination that will add value to it. In Brazil, this residue is eventually used for filling coal extraction pits or remains in sedimentation ponds, creating a susceptible panorama to environmental issues. The geopolymers binders are one of the alternatives to the proper use high amounts of these materials. In this work, geopolymeric binder pastes were produced with BA mixed to activators with different alkali contents (expressed as %Na₂O), as well as the incorporation of soluble silicates (Ms content). The production of binary geopolymeric pastes based on the use of two industrial wastes: fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and aluminum anodizing sludge (AAS), was also assessed. The content in mass of BA/FCC and BA/AAS ranged from 100/0, 90/10; 80/20 and 70/30. Systems with soluble silicates as activator in a molar ratio SiO₂/Na₂O of 1.0 (Ms = 1.0) and Na₂O content of 15%, showed the best results of mechanical strength (42 MPa at day 28^th). The improvement is up to 5X when compared to NaOH based systems. For systems with partial replacement of BA of 10% of AAS and 20% of FCC (80/20), the presence of soluble silicates was also effective to increase compressive strength.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.3-11
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• 2014

Bottom ash from coal fired power plants is not widely used due to a broad range of particle sizes and a high carbon content for producing geopolymers. The effect of mechanical activation on compressive strength of bottom ash- based geopolymers was examined by rod and planetary-ball milling to encourage full-fledged recycling of bottom ash, the main component of pond ash. The amount of amorphous component in the milled ash samples did not change significantly after the mechanical activation. It is presumably because needle-shaped mullite crystals, which is a major crystalline phase and grown in a glassy matrix, possess high strength and toughness, and therefore, they could endure external shocks and remain almost intact. Milling operation, however, decreased the particle size and improved the homogeneity of ash, thereby leading to increase reactivity of milled ash with alkali activators. Rod milling produced a relatively narrow particle size distribution of the milled ash particles; however, it was less effective in reducing the particle size. Nevertheless, it was interesting to observe that rod milling had equal effect on improving the compressive strength of geopolymers up to about 37%, as that of planetary ball milling. Rod milling is believed to be suitable process for enhancing the reactivity of bottom ash for large-scale recycling of bottom ash and producing geopolymers.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.720-727
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• 2017

This study determined the optimum mix proportions for volcanic-ash-based geopolymer by analyzing the flow, setting time, and compressive strength. $Na2SiO_3$ and NaOH were used as alkali activators, and NaOH concentrations of 2, 4, 6, and 8M were used for different experimental cases. The A/B ratios examined were 0.25, 0.3, 0.35, 0.4, and 0.45, and the ratios of volcanic ash to blast furnace slag binder were 7:3, 6:4, and 5:5. In the experiment, the flow and setting time tended to decrease and the compressive strength increased as the molarity of NaOH in the geopolymer increased. The optimum molarity of NaOH was determined to be 4M. As the A/B ratio increased, the setting time decreased and the compressive strength increased. The most advantageous A/B ratio for the setting time and strength was 0.35. Increasing the ratio of volcanic ash resulted in a longer setting time and lower compressive strength. The optimum binder ratio was chosen as 6:4 based on the setting time and compressive strength. Thus, 4M of NaOH, an A/B ratio of 0.35, and binder ratio of 6:4 are considered as the proper parameters for the volcanic-ash-based geopolymer.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.73-81
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• 2016

Geopolymers produced from aluminosilicate materials such as metakaolin and coal ash react with alkali activators and show higher fire resistance than portland cement, due to amorphous inorganic polymer. The percentage of thermal shrinkage of geopolymers ranges from less than 0.5 % to about 3 % until $600^{\circ}C$, and reaches about 5 ~ 7 % before melting. In this study, geopolymers paste having Si/Al = 1.5 and being mixed with carbon nanofibers, silicon carbide, pyrex glass, and vermiculite, and ISO sand were studied in order to understand the compressive strength and the effects of thermal shrinkage of geopolymers. The compressive strength of geopolymers mixed by carbon nanofibers, silicon carbide, pyrex glass, or vermiculite was similar in the range from 35 to 40 MPa. The average compressive strength of a geopolymers mixed with 30 wt.% of ISO sand was lowest of 28 MPa. Thermal shrinkage of geopolymers mixed with ISO sand decreased to about 25 % of paste. This is because the aggregate particles expanded on firing and to compensate the shrinkage of paste. The densification of the geopolymer matrix and the increase of porosity by sintering at $900^{\circ}C$ were observed regardless of fillers.