Mix design, properties and cost analysis of fly ash-based geopolymer foam

• Autor(a) principal: Abdollahnejad, Zahra
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Pacheco-Torgal, F., Félix, T., Tahri, W., Aguiar, J. L. Barroso de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/33357
• topic: Energy efficiency; Thermal insulators; Foam geopolymers; Mix design; Cost analysis; Science & Technology

This study has investigated the joint effect of several mix parameters on the properties of foam geopolymers. The mix parameters analysed through a laboratory experiment of 54 different mortar mixes were, sodium silicate/sodium hydroxide mass ratio (2.5, 3.5, 4.5), activator/binder mass ratio (0.6, 0.8, 1.0), chemical foaming agent type (hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and sodium perborate (NaBO3)) and foaming agent mass ratio content (1%, 2%, 3%). Properties, SEM and FTIR analysis and cost analysis are included. The results show that the sodium perborate over performs hydrogen peroxide leading to a lower overall thermal conductibility of foam geopolymers. Mixtures with a low thermal conductivity of around 0.1 W/ (m K) and a compressive strength of around 6 MPa were achieved. The cost analysis show that the foaming agents are responsible for a small percentage of foam geopolymers total cost being that the alkaline activators are responsible for more than 80%.