Effect of sucrose on slag-fly ash-based alkali activated paste

Abstract

One of the major concerns in the concrete industry is to improve the sustainability by adopting durable concrete with low energy intensity. This resulted in the remarkable progress on Alkali Activated Concrete (AAC). The AAC consists of a binder system made of a solid aluminosilicate source powder as precursor which needs to be activated by a solid or dissolved alkali activator. Considering the strength as well as durability, Alkali Activated Materials (AAM) has proved to be a novel material that could potentially replace the Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). The properties of AAM including lower carbon footprint, valorization of industrial waste materials, sustainable as well as economical characteristics has resulted in an increased research interest. Among variety of precursors available, slag based AAM has the ability to acquire strength under ambient curing. But the factors keeping it away from a wide acceptance includes its fast setting as well as low workability. This paper describes the study on effect of sucrose, a bio-additive in slag-fly ash based AAM for improving its setting time and workability. From the experimental results, sucrose has been proven as a good retarder and helps to improve the workability.