Speaker
Description
Concrete is responsible for generating up to 10% of the world’s CO2 emissions and due to its significant mineral resource consumption, has a dramatic effect on our natural infrastructure. There is an urgent need to increase the diversity of feedstock materials suitable for the manufacture of cementitious products, which are environmentally sustainable and have longevity in supply.
The aim of the present work was to investigate whether Redcar Mudstone mineral wastes, blended with recovered steel slags could be reused as an alternative active component for geopolymer production. Geopolymers are inorganic synthetic materials produced through the alkali-activation of aluminosilicates. Hardened geopolymers exhibit ceramic-like high-strength properties, whose production generates up to 60% less CO2 emissions compared with Portland cement manufacture.
The mechanical properties of various hardened geopolymer mixtures were tested by standard unconfined compressive strength (UCS) testing. The microstructure, chemical composition, and mineralogy of the materials were studied by direct physical methods including X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX). The maximum UCS recorded across all geopolymer mixtures was 70.6MPa, mechanical performance is shown to be based on the ratio between slag addition and the mineral waste silica and alumina composition.
These novel geopolymers have demonstrated great potential for numerous applications in the construction industry, including screeds and paving slabs. The potential for these new geopolymers to replace traditional Portland cement-based products while reducing the number of mineral wastes going to landfills has numerous commercial and environmental advantages – particularly in contributing towards an improved Circular Economy and in reducing global CO2 emissions.
KEYWORDS: Waste, Circular Economy, Geopolymer, Soil, Slag, Compressive strength
| Speaker Country | United Kingdom |
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