• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.43-50
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• 2016

The influence of basalt fibres on the compressive strength of the geopolymer type binders has been studied. For the experiments 2 types of the basalt fibres were used, namely chopped and spooled fibres. Both types of basalt fibres were 7-10 micron thick in diameter and cut into pieces of 6 mm length. The fibres were mixed with 1% weight to the fly ash powder, followed by the addition of the activator solution (8M NaOH). The pastes obtained were cured at $70^{\circ}C$ for 20 h revealing compact bodies. Compressive strength was measured after 7 days and microstructure observation performed with SEM. The cube bodies ($2{\times}2{\times}2cm$) reveal compressive strength of 47.25(4.03) MPa, while it decreased to 34.0(9.05) MPa in spooled basalt fibres and to 17.33(5.86) MPa in the chopped basalt fibres containing binder, i.e 76% and 36% of the strength without fibres, respectively. The much weaker compressive strength of the chopped fibres containing binder is related to the absence of significant adhesion between the geopolymer binder and the basalt fibres, forming voids instead. Alkali leaching effect of basalt fibres could probably explain the drop in the compressive strength with spooled and chopped fibres, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.449-456
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• 2014

Material properties of geopolymer, whose the reaction is very complicated, have been influenced by chemical compositions and particle size distributions of fly ash, concentrations and types of alkali-activators and curing conditions such as temperatures and time. In this research, experiments with several variables such as curing temperatures, preset prior to the high temperature curing and high temperatures have been conducted in order to evaluate to investigate effects on the compressive strengths of geopolymer caused by curing condition. Experiment results were evaluated with compressive strengths and micro-structures such as SEM and MIP of geopolymer pastes. As a result, as higher curing temperature or longer preset time were applied to the pastes, higher compressive strengths were observed. However, compressive strengths of geopolymer pastes declined due to increases in macropores (>50 nm) under high temperatures elapsed after 24 hours. In this sense, it can be considered that strengths and microstructures of geopolymers depends on curing temperature and time.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.460-468
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• 2021

Owing to the production of conventional concrete/cement, the climate crises is increasing and is mainly caused greenhouse gas (GHG) emission into the environment by industrial process. To reduce the emission of GHG, and excessive consumption of energy, research on geopolymer binder is increasing as it is environmentally friendly compared to the conventional binders such as Portland cement. The research on improving the strength and durability of geopolymer cement becomes one of the trending researches. Generally, the strength and durability of geopolymer binders are improved by altering alkaline solution & its concentration, the precursor materials and curing temperature & time, which significantly influence the chemical composition and microstructure of geopolymer to which the strength and durability of geopolymers relies. This paper included the detailed discussion on the factors affecting the mechanical properties and durability of geopolymer binder and the influence of reaction mechanism on the strength and durability of geopolymer is also discussed in this paper.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.319-332
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• 2021

The performance of gene expression programming (GEP) in predicting the compressive strength of bacteria-incorporated geopolymer concrete (GPC) was examined in this study. Ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), new bacterial strains, fly ash (FA), silica fume (SF), metakaolin (MK), and manufactured sand were used as ingredients in the concrete mixture. For the geopolymer preparation, an 8 M sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution was used, and the ambient curing temperature (28℃) was maintained for all mixtures. The ratio of sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) to NaOH was 2.33, and the ratio of alkaline liquid to binder was 0.35. Based on experimental data collected from the literature, an evolutionary-based algorithm (GEP) was proposed to develop new predictive models for estimating the compressive strength of GPC containing bacteria. Data were classified into training and testing sets to obtain a closed-form solution using GEP. Independent variables for the model were the constituent materials of GPC, such as FA, MK, SF, and Bacillus bacteria. A total of six GEP formulations were developed for predicting the compressive strength of bacteria-incorporated GPC obtained at 1, 3, 7, 28, 56, and 90 days of curing. 80% and 20% of the data were used for training and testing the models, respectively. R2 values in the range of 0.9747 and 0.9950 (including train and test dataset) were obtained for the concrete samples, which showed that GEP can be used to predict the compressive strength of GPC containing bacteria with minimal error. Moreover, the GEP models were in good agreement with the experimental datasets and were robust and reliable. The models developed could serve as a tool for concrete constructors using geopolymers within the framework of this research.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.71-81
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• 2022

Aluminosilicate materials as precursors are heterogenous in nature, consisting of inert and partially reactive portion, and have varying proportions depending upon source materials. It is essential to assess the reactivity of precursor prior to synthesize geopolymers. Moreover, reactivity may act as decisive factor for setting molar concentration of NaOH, curing temperature and setting proportion of different precursors. In this experimental work, the reactivities of two precursors, low calcium (fly ash (FA)) and high calcium (ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS)), were assessed through the dissolution of aluminosilicate at (i) three molar concentrations (8, 12, and 16 M) of NaOH solution, (ii) 6 to 24 h dissolution time, and (iii) 20-100℃. Based on paratermeters influencing the reactivity, different proportions of ternary binders (two precursors and ordinary cement) were activated by the combined NaOH and Na2SiO3 solutions with two alkaline activators to precursor ratios, to synthesize the geopolymer. Reactivity results revealed that GGBS was 20-30% more reactive than FA at 20℃, at all three molar concentrations, but its reactivity decreased by 32-46% with increasing temperature due to the high calcium content. Setting time of geopolymer paste was reduced by adding GGBS due to its fast reactivity. Both GGBS and cement promoted the formation of all types of gels (i.e., C-S-H, C-A-S-H, and N-A-S-H). As a result, it was found that a specified mixing proportion could be used to improve the compressive strength over 30 MPa at both the ambient and hot curing conditions.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.175-183
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• 2024

Geopolymer, also known as alkali aluminum silicate, is used as a substitute for Portland cement, and it is also used as a binder because of its good adhesive properties and heat resistance. Since Davidovits developed Geopolymer matrix composites (GMCs) based on the binder properties of geopolymer, they have been utilized as flame exhaust ducts and aircraft fire protection materials. Geopolymer structures are formed through hydrolysis and dehydration reactions, and their physical properties can be influenced by reaction conditions such as concentration, reaction time, and temperature. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of silica size and aging time on the mechanical properties of composites. Commercial water glass and kaolin were used to synthesize geopolymers, and two types of silica powder were added to increase the silicon content. Using carbon fiber mats, a fiber-reinforced composite material was fabricated using the hand lay-up method. Spectroscopy was used to confirm polymerization, aging effects, and heat treatment, and composite materials were used to measure flexural strength. As a result, it was confirmed that the longer time aging and use of nano-sized silica particles were helpful in improving the mechanical properties of the geopolymer matrix composite.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.443-450
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• 2015

This paper presents an investigation of the mechanical and microstructural properties of Class F fly ash based geopolymer containing sodium sulfate as an additive. Sodium sulfate was used as an chemical additive at the dosage levels of 0, 2, 4, and 6wt% of fly ash. Sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solutions were used to activate fly ash. The compressive strengths of geopolymer pastes were measured at the age of 28 days. The microstructures of the geopolymer pastes were examined using XRD, MIP and SEM tests. The additions of 2wt% and 4wt% sodium sulfate produced geopolymers with high strength, while increasing the dosage of levels to 6% resulted in almost no changes in strength, comparing with the control geopolymer. The optimum increase in strength was obtained with the addition of 4wt% sodium sulfate. As the amount of sodium sulfate is increased, no additional crystalline phase was detected and no change of amorphous phase indicated despite the change in the strength development. The increase in the strength was due to the change of pore size distribution in samples. As addition of sodium sulfate altered the morphologies of reactive productions and Si/Al ratios of the reaction products, the strengths were thus affected. It was found that the strengths of geopolymer were larger for lower Si/Al ratios of reaction products formed in samples. The optimal amount of sodium sulfate in the fly ash based geopolymer helps to improve mechanical properties of the geopolymer, on the other hand, the high percentage of sodium sulfate could exist as an impurity in the geopolymer and hinder the geopolymer reaction.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.295-302
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• 2017

In this study, the effect of pre-curing process on the enhancement of mechanical properties of IGCC-slag-based-geopolymer was studied. Pre-curing is a process in which the green geopolymer is left at room temperature for a certain period of time prior to the high-temperature curing, and it is known as increasing the strength of a specimen. Therefore, in this experiment, the compressive strength of the geopolymers was measured according to various pre-curing conditions, and microstructure and crystal phase changes were observed by SEM and XRD, respectively. The W/S ratio was determined to be 0.26, which can offer the maximum geopolymer strength with easy molding ability, and the concentration of the alkali solution was 15 M. Pre-curing was performed at room temperature for 0 to 27 days. Compressive strength of the geopolymer made with pre-curing process increased by 36~87 % compared with the specimens made with no pre-curing process. Those improved compressive strength for the pre-cured geopolymer was confirmed owing to promotion effect of pre-curing process on generation of C-S-H gel and zeolite phases, which were analyzed using by XRD and SEM measurement.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2009

The feasibility of the geopolymer as a cultural asset restoration material was studied by investigating compressive strength and chromaticity change. Metakaolin that was synthesized by calcination of the kaolin at $750^{\circ}C$ for 6 hours was used as a geopolymeric starting material. Kaolin lost its crystallinity and changed into non-crystalline phase during calcination. NaOH solution and water glass were used as an initiator for the geopolymeric reaction. As the concentration of NaOH solution and water glass increased the compressive strength increased. When alumina was substituted with metakaolin, the compressive strength decreased at a small amount of alumina, but increased at a large substitution. For the most composition of geopolymers, the change of chroma values remained within the limit of slight variation after exposure to sunlight for 8 and 100 days. However, even small amount of organic pigment addition increased chroma values of metakaoline. It was shown that geopolymer had excellent chroma value change over epoxy resins.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.412-420
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• 2023

In this study, red mud/fly ash based geopolymer adsorbents (RFGPA) were prepared with calcination temperatures of 200, 400, and 600 ℃, and the effects of these calcination temperatures on the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) were investigated. In addition, the prepared RFGPA was characterized using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and Brunauer-EmmettTeller (BET) analysis. The results of the adsorption kinetics of MB at RFGPA prepared calcination temperatures indicated that the adsorption equilibrium of MB was reached after about 72 h. From the results of the adsorption isotherm, we verified that the degree of adsorption increased with increasing MB concentrations. In addition, the adsorption amount (Q) of MB decreased with an increase in calcination temperature. The experimental adsorption isotherm data were well fitted to the Freundlich and Sips equations compared to the Langmuir equation. In order to verify the effects of photocatalytic decomposition (C/C₀) of MB on Fe₂O₃ present in prepared RFGPA, the degree of decomposition of MB was examined under dark and visible conditions. Results indicated that the decomposition of MB in visible conditions was about 3.0 times faster than that in dark conditions.