Alkali Activated Paste and Concrete Based on of Biomass Bottom Ash with Phosphogypsum

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the development of new cementitious binders for building construction activities. In this study, biomass bottom ash (BBA) was used as aluminosilicate precursor and phosphogypsum (PG) was used as a calcium source. The mixtures of BBA and PG were activated with the sodium hydroxide solution or the mixture of sodium hydroxide solution and sodium silicate hydrate solution. Alkali activated binders were investigated using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test methods. The compressive strength of hardened paste and fine-grained concrete was also evaluated. After 28 days, the highest compressive strength reached 30.0 MPa—when the BBA was substituted with 15% PG and activated with NaOH solution—which is 14 MPa more than control sample. In addition, BBA fine-grained concrete samples based on BBA with 15% PG substitute activated with NaOH/Na2SiO3 solution showed higher compressive strength compered to when NaOH activator was used −15.4 MPa and 12.9 MPa respectfully. The NaOH/Na2SiO3 activator solution resulted reduced open porosity, so potentially the fine-grained concrete resistance to freeze and thaw increased.