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GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE: OVERVIEW

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International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET)
Volume 8, Issue 6, November - December 2017, pp. 10–14, Article ID: IJARET_08_06_002
Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/issues.asp?JType=IJARET&VType=8&IType=6
ISSN Print: 0976-6480 and ISSN Online: 0976-6499
© IAEME Publication

GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE: OVERVIEW

Dr. P. Thamilselvi
Department of Civil Engineering,
Associate Professor, Division of Structural Engineering,
College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, Chennai, India

Dr. A. Siva, Dr. Damilola Oyejobi

Department of Civil Engineering,
Research Assistant, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Malaya, Malaysia

ABSTRACT
Global warming is a threatening issue nowadays and cement industry also
contributes to CO2 emissions. This necessitates for the alternative construction
materials to lessen the carbon emission, and to carry out sustainable development.
One such is the geopolymer concrete and this paper presents an overview of recent
advances in geopolymer concrete, a concrete formed by organic/inorganic materials
using alkaline activation solution which is made of aluminosilicates. Moreover, it also
consumes waste material/by-product and significant natural resources for the
production of geopolymer concrete in order to meet global infrastructure
developments. The paper suggests the future studies of geopolymer concrete in various
aspects.
Key words: Geopolymer Concrete, Carbon Emission, Silicate Solution, Ambient
Curing, Molarity Concentration, Industrial Waste, Agriculture Waste.
Cite this Article: Dr. P. Thamilselvi, Dr. A. Siva, Dr. Damilola Oyejobi, Geopolymer
Concrete: Overview. International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and
Technology, 8(6), 2017, pp 10–14.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET/issues.asp?JType=IJARET&VType=8&IType=6

1. INTRODUCTION
Production of cement causes a large volume of carbon dioxide CO2 emission causing
temperature rise, global warming. It is estimated that one tonne of cement approximately
requires about 2 tonnes of raw materials (Limestone and Shale) and release about 0.87 tonne
of carbon dioxide and about 3 kg of nitrogen oxide. Production of cement causes greater
impact in environment causing changes in land-use patterns and local water contamination as
well as air pollution. Fugitive CO2 emissions also pose huge threat to the environment. The
cement industry does not fit in sustainable development due to raw materials used for the
production does not recycle and are non-renewable. The waste material or by-product from
the industry which can be utilized for reduction of carbon dioxide CO2 emission. Emphasis on
energy conservation and environmental protection has been increased in recent times which

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 Dr. P. Thamilselvi, Dr. A. Siva, Dr. Damilola Oyejobi

have led to the investigation of alternatives to customary building materials and technologies.
Thus, the material or by product of an industry could be used in cement production thereby
lessening carbon foot print. Inorganic polymer or organic polymer composites possess the
potential to form a substantial element to form an environment friendly and sustainable
constructional building material which produces lower greenhouse footprint when compared
to the traditional concrete.
In early 1950s a concrete material was developed originally named as “soil silicate
concretes” and “soil cement” which are nowadays known as geopolymer concrete.
Geopolymer concrete is alternative material of conventional cement concrete, which is made
up of different combinations of materials like fly ash, bottom ash, blast furnace slag, ground
granulated blast furnace, rice husk ash, silica fume, metakaolin, volcanic tuffs, mine tailings,
zeolites, silvers trim, silicates and alkali-activated solutions such as Sodium silicate-Na2SiO3
and Sodium hydroxide-NaOH / Potassium silicate-K2O3Si and potassium hydroxide-KOH).
The term “geopolymer” is a family of mineral binder and chemical compositions which is
similar to zeolites but with an amorphous microstructure. The polycondensation of
silica/alumina precursors present in the polymers is the important mechanism which helps to
gain its structural strength. Geopolymer concrete is a unique material comprising of
aluminosilicate materials such as aluminosilicate gels, glasses and zeolites etc.

2. GEOPOLYMER CEMENT CATEGORIES

The categories comprise:
 Slag-based geopolymer cement. [1] Components used in production of geopolymer
concrete are metakaolin, blast furnace slag and silicate.
 Rock-based geopolymer cement.[2] Components used in production of geopolymer
concrete are metakaolin, blast furnace slag, volcanic tuffs, mine tailings and alkali silicate.
 Fly ash-based geopolymer cement. Components used in production of geopolymer
concrete are slag-based geopolymeric cements, zeolites from fly ashes and silver strim.
Type 1: alkali-activated fly ash geopolymer. [3]
Type 2: slag/fly ash-based geopolymer cement. [4][5][6]
 Ferro-sialate-based geopolymer cement. [7] Components used in production of geopolymer
concrete are geological iron rich raw materials.

3. PROCEDURE FOR PRODUCTION OF GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE

Step1: Collection and preparation or raw materials
Step2: Characterization of raw materials (Chemical and Mineralogical)
Step3: Optimization of mix design, paste and mortar
Step4: Trial mix with different material and different ratio
Step5: Activation process with different ratio
Step6: Fabrication and Casting of concrete.
Step7: Investigation of geopolymer products

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 Geopolymer Concrete: Overview

Experimental investigation on geopolymer concrete could be conducted for varying

conditions with different materials. The variables are under as follows:
Fly Ash Types Solutions Ratio Materials Ratio Portions
C, D, F NaOH Na2 + SiO3 FA, CFA, S, RHA, W/C and
GBFS, M, SF, Binder ratio
GGBS
 Different curing conditions
 Different ashes
 Different concentration of NaOH ratios
 Different materials additions
 Different water cement ratios
 Different fine and coarse aggregates
 Different hush ashes (Rice, Paddy and bagasse etc.,)

Table 1 Mortar & Codes of Practices (ASTM) for geopolymer concrete – 2015
Type of Material Code Specimen
C183 Sampling
Cement C188 Density
C430 Fineness
C191 Setting Time
C144 Sampling (Masonry mortar)
Graded Sand C778 Standard Sand
C128 Density
C117 Slit
Deleterious Substance C142 Clay
C123 LW material
C40 Organic impurities
Mixing C305 Mixing methodology
C511 Mixing tanks
Flow C1437 Methodology for flow
C109 Compression
Testing C597 UPV
C1585 Absorption
C807 Setting Time
Compression C1329 Mortar Cement
C270 Masonry Mortar

4. CHARACTERIZATION TESTS FOR MATERIALS

According to the requirements, the chemical composition and mineralogical investigations
should be carried out for the materials as follows:
 X-ray diffraction (XRD) – Identifying crystalline materials and composition
 X-ray fluorescence (XRF) – Identifying minerals, sediments and fluids particles
 Energy dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX) – Identifying elemental analysis or chemical
characterization of samples.
 Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) – Identifying Quantitative
compositions of samples in the field.

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 Dr. P. Thamilselvi, Dr. A. Siva, Dr. Damilola Oyejobi

 Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) – Identifying Quantitative compositions

 Thermo gravimetric Analysis (TGA) – Identifying ceramics and thermally stable polymers
 Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) – Identifying organic, polymeric and
inorganic materials with chemical properties.
 ELE testing machine
 Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP-AES) – Identifying detecting inorganic impurities in
pharmaceuticals and their ingredients
 Particle size analyzer (PSA) – Identifying different grinding conditions.

5. INVESTIGATION ON MATERIAL TESTING

The developed product could be tested for the different essential properties. They are listed as
follows:
 Fresh properties
 Mechanical properties
 Water absorption and Sorptivity
 Sulfate and acid attacks
 Creep and drying shrinkage
 Structural and elemental behaviour of specimen

The experimental investigations can be conducted of geopolymer concrete for different

molarities, curing conditions, different base materials, enhancement of strength for the
structural applications.

6. BENEFITS OF GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE

Geopolymer is better than normal concrete in many aspects such as compressive strength,
exposure to aggressive environment, workability and exposure to high temperature.
Geopolymer concrete has several economic benefits over conventional Portland cement
concrete. Geopolymer concrete is cost effective against the conventional Portland cement
concrete which has similar performance.
It acts as a low-carbon and lesser energy consumption material and is a better alternative
to traditional cement concrete and also reduces the carbon dioxide CO2 emission and other
environmental pollutions. Rock based geopolymer achieves 59% of energy needs whereas
slag based geopolymer achieves 43% reduction in energy needs than a conventional concrete.
Carbon emissions are also lower in geopolymer where reduction in 80% and 70% of carbon
emission is achieved for rock based and slag based geopolymer respectively.
Further the recent research focuses on the low drying shrinkage, low creep, resistance of
sulfate attack or acid attack, acid resistance and fire resistance which may yield additional
economic benefits while utilizing geopolymer concrete in infrastructure applications.
The main benefits of geopolymer concrete over conventional concrete are
 High compressive strength
 High abrasion resistance
 Rapid setting and quick hardening

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 Geopolymer Concrete: Overview

 Fire resistance (up to 1000ºC)

 Less emission of toxic fumes under heating
 High resistance to different acids and salt solutions attacks
 Less deleterious alkali-aggregate reactions
 Low shrinkage and thermal conductivity
 High surface resistance etc.,

7. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Geopolymer concrete offers environmental friendly and protects the natural resource by
utilizing the waste/by-products from the industry which is harmful of the environment
converted into value added construction building materials. This paper presents the overview
of geopolymer materials, characterizations, different testing, code for testing and economic
benefits, instead of the traditional Portland cement to make concrete. Geopolymer concrete
has several excellent benefits like high compressive strength, simple guidelines for mix
design and high fire resistance which is suitable for the structural applications.

REFERENCES
[1] Davidovits, J. and Sawyer, J.L. Early high-strength mineral polymer. US Patent 4,509,985,
1985, filed February 22, 1984. The first commercial geopolymer cement was coined Pyrament
2000™ designed for repair and patching operations.
[2] Gimeno, D., Davidovits, J., Marini, C., Rocher, P., Tocco, S., Cara, S., Diaz, N., Segura, C.
and Sistu, G. Development of silicate-based cement from glassy alkaline volcanic rocks:
interpretation of preliminary data related to chemical- mineralogical composition of geologic
raw materials. Paper in Spanish, Bol. Soc. Esp. Cerám. Vidrio, 42, 2003, pp. 69–78. [Results
from the European Research Project GEOCISTEM (1997), Cost Effective Geopolymeric
Cements For Innocuous Stabilisation of Toxic Elements, Final Technical Report, April 30,
1997, Brussels, Project funded by the European Commission, Brite-Euram BE-7355-93, Jan.
1, 1994 to Feb. 28, 1997].
[3] Palomo, A.; Grutzeck, M.W. and Blanco, M.T. Alkali-activated fly ashes: A Cement for the
future. Cement Concrete Res, 29, 1999, pp. 1323–1329.
[4] GEOASH (2004–2007), The GEOASH project was carried out with a financial grant from the
Research Fund for Coal and Steel of the European Community, contract number RFC-CR-
04005. It involves: Antenucci D., ISSeP, Liège, Belgium; Nugteren H. and Butselaar-Orthlieb
V., Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands; Davidovits J., Cordi-
Géopolymère Sarl, Saint-Quentin, France; Fernández-Pereira C. and Luna Y., University of
Seville, School of Industrial Engineering, Sevilla, Spain; Izquierdo and M., Querol X.,
CSIC, Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, Barcelona, Spain.
[5] Izquierdo, M.; Querol, X.; Davidovits, J.; Antenucci, D.; Nugteren, H. and Fernández-Pereira,
C. Coal fly ash-based geopolymers: microstructure and metal leaching. Journal of Hazardous
Materials, 166, 2009, pp. 561–566.
[6] J. Davidovits. Geopolymer Chemistry and Applications, 4th Edition. Institut Géopolymère,
2015, Chapter 12.
[7] Davidovits, J. et al. Geopolymer cement of the Calcium-Ferroaluminium silicate polymer type
and production process. PCT patent publication WO 2012/056125.

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