Utilization of Fly Ash, Red Mud, and Electric Arc Furnace Dust Slag for Geopolymer

摘要

Geopolymer is an aluminosilicate material that can be prepared from thermal activation of solid material containing alumina and silica as precursor and alkali activator solution. The precursor is an eco-friendly material and has a potency to replace Portland cement (cementless material). In this work, cementless geopolymer mortar was prepared by mixing fly ash as main precursors, red mud, and electric arc furnace dust slag, followed by addition of activator solution containing sodium hydroxide solution and waterglass. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy demonstrated the formation of albite in geopolymer mortars, indicating that geopolymer mortars have been successfully formed. The best compressive strength of mortars was 72.80 MPa achieved by using fly ash and red mud with NaOH 12M under ambient curing.