Design of an eco-friendly composite gypsum binder using different mineral admixtures

Abstract

This study deals with the properties of a series of plasters synthesized by blending gypsum (GYP) with different proportions of metakaolin (MET), glass powder (GP), silica fume (SF) and zeolite (Z) used as mineral admixture. The consistency, bulk density, water absorption and porosity of the gypsum composites were determined after 7 days. This paper discusses the effect of the addition of mineral admixtures at increasing ratios and evaluates the influence of mineral admixtures on the mechanical performance of the composite gypsum binder. This paper also focuses on the design of composite gypsum binder by using the stepwise optimisation technique to determine the optimal dosage of each mineral admixture to attain maximum mechanical strength. The results highlight that the synthesized composite gypsum binder using mineral admixtures exhibited improved mechanical strength and decreased porosity when compared to the plain gypsum plaster.