Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Silica Fume Improves the Frost Resistance of Alkali-activated Slag/fly Ash Geopolymer Binder

Version 1 : Received: 7 June 2023 / Approved: 7 June 2023 / Online: 7 June 2023 (13:34:14 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Wang, S.; Liang, Y.; Mo, D.; Zhang, C.; Xue, J.; Song, X.; Wang, Y. Doping Silica Fume Enhances the Mechanical Strength of Slag/Fly Ash Geopolymer Paste under Frost Attack. Minerals 2023, 13, 925. Wang, S.; Liang, Y.; Mo, D.; Zhang, C.; Xue, J.; Song, X.; Wang, Y. Doping Silica Fume Enhances the Mechanical Strength of Slag/Fly Ash Geopolymer Paste under Frost Attack. Minerals 2023, 13, 925.

Abstract

Benign design of alkali-activated slag/FA geopolymer paste has intriguing increasing attention for optimizing its service performance. Therefore, the replacement of fly ash (FA) with 10 wt% silica fume (SF) is investigated by mechanical strength after freeze-thawing cycles and microstructure characterization. The results show that an appropriate dosage (30 wt%) of slag is necessary to attain alkali-activated slag/FA geopolymer paste with excellent mechanical performance, and the SF/slag/FA (SF: slag: FA= 10:30:60, wt%) geopolymer paste exerts the compressive and flexural strength of 95.2 and 3.2 MPa, respectively. Meanwhile, the doped 10 wt% SF facilitates the propagation of (N, C)-A–S–H chains, rather than the formation of C-S-H gels, evidenced by the absent exothermic peak at about 861oC from the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curves, leading to the increases in the pores volume with a pore diameter<20 nm and tortuosity by mercury intrusion porosimeter (MIP) results, corresponding to an improved freezing-thawing resistance with the residual compressive strength of 52.8 MPa and the weight loss of 10.5% after 300 freeze-thawing cycles. It explores a cost-effective and benign facile approach to designing heating curing-free alkali-activated slag/FA geopolymer paste with good freezing-thawing resistance.

Keywords

alkali-activated; freezing-thawing; fly ash; geopolymer; silica fume

Subject

Chemistry and Materials Science, Materials Science and Technology

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