Abstract
This paper tests the development of a silica fume-based material, capable to be used as a solid activator for the one-part geopolymerization of fly ash. Through a simple procedure, a mixture of silica fume, an amorphous and silicon-rich by-product, sodium hydroxide and water, is converted, after a low-temperature treatment, to a new powder product mainly containing sodium silicate (Na2SiO3). Two different treatment methods are tested for the synthesis of the solid activator: heat and microwave treatment. Microwave processing is more sustainable and more efficient than thermal treatment, since purer products are produced with less energy consumption. The use of these low embodied energy products, as the only solid activator of fly ash, leads to geopolymers with comparable mechanical performance to those prepared with commercial products revealing their potential successful addition in the geopolymer market.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Notes
The overall amount of Si involved in the geopolymerization process expressed as the Si/Al molar ratio.
The alkalinity of the activators expressed as sodium to aluminium molar ratio Na/Al.
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Funding
This research is carried out/funded in the context of the project “Development of solid activators mixtures for fly ash geopolymerization” (MIS 50 5049183) under the call for proposals “Researchers’ support with an emphasis on young researchers—2nd Cycle”. The project is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund- ESF) by the Operational Programme Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning 2014–2020.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Olga Andriana Panitsa and Dimitrios Kioupis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Olga Andriana Panitsa and Dimitrios Kioupis, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Prof. Glikeria Kakali supervised the research work, reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Panitsa, O.A., Kioupis, D. & Kakali, G. Thermal and microwave synthesis of silica fume-based solid activator for the one-part geopolymerization of fly ash. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 59513–59523 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20081-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20081-9