Microstructure of different NaOH molarity of fly ash-based green polymeric cement

Abstract

Every 1 ton of concrete leads to CO2 emissions which vary between 0.05 to 0.13 tons. About 95% of all CO2 emissions from a cubic yard of concrete are from cement manufacturing. It is important to reduce CO2 emissions through the greater use of substitute to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) such as fly ash, clay and others geo-based material. This paper, report on the study of the processing of geopolymer using fly ash and alkaline activator with geopolymerization process. The factors that influence the early age compressive strength such as molarity of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) have been studied. Sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution were used as an alkaline activator. The geopolymer paste samples were cured at 70°C for 1 day and keep in room temperature until the testing days. The compressive strength was done at 1, 2, 3 and 7 days. The result showed that the geopolymer paste with NaOH concentration of 12 M produced maximum compressive strength.   Key words: Green polymeric concrete, fly ash, molarity, compressive strength.