Revisiting alkali-activated and sodium silicate-based materials in the early works of Glukhovsky

Abstract

This review article provides an overview of Glukhovsky's Soil Silicates (1952), a seminal work that remains untranslated into English, and explores its relevance in the context of modern alkali-activated materials. Surprisingly, certain materials, methods, and approaches mentioned by Glukhovsky have received limited attention in subsequent literature. Motivated by occasional shortages and high costs of Portland cement, Glukhovsky investigated the utilization of local raw materials, including soils and industrial wastes, as solid precursors for producing sodium silicate binders, which he termed soil silicates. Glukhovsky's early studies primarily focused on utilization of natural materials such as loess, sandy loam, river sand, silt sand, loam, and brown clay. This review article summarizes the key factors influencing the mechanical properties of soil silicates, encompassing the modulus and concentration of sodium silicate, variations in particle size and chemical compositions of solid precursors, and curing methods. A comprehensive analysis of these findings reveals that the materials identified as soil silicates by Glukhovsky encompassed multiple consolidation mechanisms that extended beyond the modern definition of alkali-activated materials.