Preparation of Metakaolin Based Geopolymer Foam Using a Combination of Na and K Types of Alkali Activators

Abstract

In this research, the ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was mixed with metakaolin, activator, hydrogen peroxide, and olive oil to synthesize hybrid geopolymer foam. The obtained results indicated internal heat release throughout OPC hydration in the combination. OPC was employed as a calcium source in geopolymers (Geopolymer-Portland cement (HGPF)) to explore the curing process of geopolymers at ambient temperature. The functionality of geopolymer components and (HGPF) mixture, the elemental composition, and proportion analyses have been compared. A principal aim of this research focuses on developing geopolymer foam and conducting many tests such as physical tests related to the surface area and pores size and compression of the foam to investigate the capacity of applying this foam in different applications that require good strength. Furthermore, microstructure tests using SEM and XRD techniques have been conducted to examine surface structure components. Overall, the findings presented in this research show that the materials selected to develop the geopolymer foam were compatible with each other giving high porosity with acceptable compression via optimizing the processing parameters by RSM.