Developing and assessing geopolymers from seochun pond ash with a range of compositional ratios

Abstract

Pond ash produced from Seochun Power Station was quantitatively characterized to manufacture geopolymers with a range of Si/ Al compositional ratios. Mix consistency was kept nearly constant for comparing the compressive strengths of geopolymers. The amorphous composition of coal ash was determined using XRF and quantitative X-ray diffraction. Different mix compositions were used in order to achieve Si/Al ratios of 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 in the geopolymer binder. Geopolymers synthesized from coal ash with a Si/ Al ratio of 3.0 exhibited the highest compressive strength in this study. It was found that geopolymers activated with aluminate produced different microstructure from that of geopolymers activated with silicate. High silica in alkali activators produced the finegrained microstructure of geopolymer gel. It was also found that high compressive strength was related to low porosity and a dense, connected microstructure. The outcome of the reported experiment indicates that quantitative formulation method made it possible to choose suitable activators for achieving targeted compositions of geopolymers and to avoid efflorescence.