Fly ash and ceramic residue based geopolymer mortars

Abstract

A binary geopolymer in the basis of fly ash and ceramic residue was developed under ambient temperature. The alkali medium comprises of commercial Na₂SiO₃ and NaOH with 10 M dan 12 M. Analyses were carried out to characterize the raw materials and their geopolymer properties. characterization was conducted through X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The compressive strength, porosity and abrasion rates were measured for determining geopolymer performance. The ceramic residue consists mainly of SiO₂ and Al₂O₃, which is similar to the fly ash. The highest compressive strength produced from the specimens was at 25.2 MPa with the age of 28 days, which complies with class 1 in standard SNI 03-0349-1989. This highest strength was followed by the lowest water absorption and abrasion rate, which are at 1.99% and 0.007 mm/minute, respectively.