Abstract
Blast furnace slag (BFS)/sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) blends were assessed for the production of alkali-activated pastes and mortars. SCBA was collected from a lagoon in which wastes from a sugar cane industry were poured. After previous dry and grinding processes, SCBA was chemically characterized: it had a large percentage of organic matter (ca. 25%). Solutions of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate were used as activating reagents. Different BFS/SCBA mixtures were studied, replacing part of the BFS by SCBA from 0 to 40% by weight. The mechanical strength of mortar was measured, obtaining values about 60 MPa of compressive strength for BFS/SCBA systems after 270 days of curing at 20 °C. Also, microstructural properties were assessed by means of SEM, TGA, XRD, pH, electrical conductivity, FTIR spectroscopy and MIP. Results showed a good stability of matrices developed by means of alkali-activation. It was demonstrated that sugar cane bagasse ash is an interesting source for preparing alkali-activated binders.
Highlights
Concrete is certainly the most important construction material in the world
Derivative thermogravimetric curves (DTG) of pastes cured at 65 °C for 3 and 7 days are depicted in Figure 6a,b, respectively
Pastes cured for 3 days at 65 °C were characterized by means of Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), pH and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
Summary
Concrete is certainly the most important construction material in the world. Its use is over 10 billion tons per year and, when done well, concrete can present good mechanical strength, and acceptable durability performance [1,2,3]. Several research groups, and even the Portland cement industry, are investigating alternatives to produce green binding materials Among these alternative materials, alkali-activated systems can be considered the most promising one due to its similar, or even better, mechanical properties and its high durability [6,7]. Alkali-activated systems can be considered the most promising one due to its similar, or even better, mechanical properties and its high durability [6,7] These binding materials can reduce up to 80% of CO2 emissions when compared to that of Portland cement production [8,9]. This paper assesses the mechanical and microstructural properties of alkali-activated binders based on slag/SCBA blends in different proportions: 100/0; 85/15; 75/25; 60/40
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