Abstract
Geopolymers have high early strength, fast hardening speed and wide sources of raw materials, and have good durability properties such as high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance. On the other hand, there are abundant sources of plant or cellulose fibers, and it has the advantages of having a low cost, a light weight, strong adhesion and biodegradability. In this context, the geopolymer sector is considering cellulose fibers as a sustainable reinforcement for developing composites. Cellulosic-fiber-reinforced geopolymer composites have broad development prospects. This paper presents a review of the literature research on the durability of cellulosic-fiber-reinforced geopolymer composites in recent years. In this paper, the typical properties of cellulose fibers are summarized, and the polymerization mechanism of geopolymers is briefly discussed. The factors influencing the durability of cellulosic-fiber-reinforced geopolymer composites were summarized and analyzed, including the degradation of fibers in a geopolymer matrix, the toughness of fiber against matrix cracking, the acid resistance, and resistance to chloride ion penetration, high temperature resistance, etc. Finally, the influence of nanomaterials on the properties of geopolymer composites and the chemical modification of fibers are analyzed, and the research on cellulosic-fiber-reinforced geopolymer composites is summarized.
Highlights
Geopolymer is a kind of inorganic silico-aluminum cementitious material with a spatial structure prepared by the reaction of active low-calcium silico-alumina material with an alkaline activator, with a three-dimensional network composed of SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedral unit structure
The increase in the content of lignin and hemicellulose leads to the porosity, low density and brittleness of the composite, which reduces the flexural and compressive strength of the composite; the alkaline degradation of hemicellulose reduces the degree of polymerization of the composite
It can be seen that bast fibers have a good toughening effect on cellulosic-fiber-reinforced geopolymer composites (CFGCs), which further reduces the possibility of CFGCs cracking, effectively improving their durability
Summary
Geopolymer is a kind of inorganic silico-aluminum cementitious material with a spatial structure prepared by the reaction of active low-calcium silico-alumina material with an alkaline activator, with a three-dimensional network composed of SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedral unit structure. The concept of geopolymers was originally proposed to describe the inorganic aluminosilicate polymers synthesized with natural materials by French scientist Davidovits in 1978 [6] His team used alkali metal silicate solutions to stimulate geological minerals to form polymeric aluminum silicate materials under strong alkaline conditions [7]. There is no special review on the durability of plant- or cellulosic-fiber-reinforced geopolymer composites (CFGCs). According to the performance characteristics of CFs, the factors that affect the durability of CFGCs are summarized and analyzed, including the degradation of CFs in the geopolymer matrix, the toughness of CF against matrix cracking, and the performance of acid resistance, anti-chloride ion penetration, high temperature resistance and so on. There are few research cases about the freezing-thawing resistance and carbonization resistance of CFGCs, so this paper does not carry out in-depth discussion on relevant issues, and further relevant studies are needed in the future
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