Possibility of Using Metakaolin as Thermal Insulation Material

Abstract

The use of energy in the building sector accounts a significant part of the world’s total energy and greenhouse gas emissions. In order to meet the demands of improved energy efficiency, thermal insulation of buildings plays an important role. To attain the highest possible thermal insulation, new insulation plaster types with low thermal conductivity values have been investigated and developed. In the current investigation, the possibility of using new plaster types based on metakaolin (MK) as heat insulation material and elevated temperature resistance has been studied and compared with that of traditional Portland cement plaster. Either cement or gypsum was used as a binder material. Three different plaster types containing MK were investigated as well as the traditional cement plaster (TC), which was used as a reference. Density and thermal conductivity values were measured. The compressive strength values before and after exposure to $$600\,^{\circ }\hbox {C}$$ for 2 h were identified. The results showed that it is possible to produce different plaster types based on MK as heat insulation materials as well as elevated temperature resistance. MK plaster types exhibited approximately 65.7 % to 72 % lower thermal conductivity than that of TC plaster.