See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/232276374

Review on fly ash-based geopolymer concrete without Portland Cement

Article · February 2011

CITATIONS READS
79 2,846

6 authors, including:

Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri Abdullah Alida Abdullah

Universiti Malaysia Perlis Universiti Malaysia Perlis
654 PUBLICATIONS   3,593 CITATIONS    50 PUBLICATIONS   284 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Hussni Mohammed H. Kamarudin

Cornell University Universiti Malaysia Perlis
290 PUBLICATIONS   8,041 CITATIONS    454 PUBLICATIONS   4,140 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Interfacial Modification of Polypropylene-Chitosan Composites View project

Novel Approach on Texturized ZnO and ZnS:In Photoanode Material with natural Fruit Dye for Dye Sensitized Solar Cell View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri Abdullah on 21 May 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Journal of Engineering and Technology Research Vol. 3(1), pp. 1-4, January 2011
Available online at http:// www.academicjournals.org/JETR
ISSN 2006-9790 ©2011 Academic Journals

Review

Review on fly ash-based geopolymer concrete without

Portland Cement
Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri1*, H. Mohammed2, H. Kamarudin1, I. Khairul Niza3 and Y. Zarina1
1
School of Material Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), P. O. Box 77, d/a Pejabat, Pos Besar, 01007
Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia.
2
King Abdul Aziz City Science and Technology (KACST), P. O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
3
School of Environmental Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), P. O. Box 77, d/a Pejabat, Pos Besar,
01007 Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia.
Accepted 19 November, 2010

The consumption of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) caused pollution to the environment due to the
emission of CO2. As such, alternative material had been introduced to replace OPC in the concrete. Fly
ash is a by-product from the coal industry, which is widely available in the world. Moreover, the use of
fly ash is more environmental friendly and save cost compared to OPC. Fly ash is rich in silicate and
alumina, hence it reacts with alkaline solution to produce aluminosilicate gel that binds the aggregate
to produce a good concrete. The compressive strength increases with the increasing of fly ash fineness
and thus the reduction in porosity can be obtained. Fly ash based geopolymer also provided better
resistance against aggressive environment and elevated temperature compared to normal concrete. As
a conclusion, the properties of fly ash-based geopolymer are enhanced with few factors that influence
its performance.

Key words: Fly ash-based geopolymer, alkaline solution, compressive strength.

INTRODUCTION

Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) becomes an important the combustion of coal which is widely available
material in the production of concrete which act as its worldwide and lead to waste management proposal.
binder to bind all the aggregate together. However, the Hence, fly ash-based geopolymer concrete is a good
utilization of cement causes pollution to the environment alternative to overcome the abundant of fly ash. In fly
and reduction of raw material (limestone). The ash-based geopolymer concrete, the silica and the
manufacturing of OPC requires the burning of large alumina present in the source materials are first induced
quantities of fuel and decomposition of limestone, by alkaline activators to form a gel known as
resulting in significant emissions of carbon dioxide (Kong aluminosilicate.
and Sanjayan, 2008). As such, geopolymer concrete had This gel binds the loose aggregates and other un-
been introduced to reduce the above problem. reacted materials in the mixture to form the geopolymer
Geopolymer concrete also showed good properties such concrete (Wallah, 2009). Besides that, the reaction also
as high compressive strength, low creep, good acid depends on a few parameters such as size of
resistance and low shrinkage (Lodeiro et al., 2007). The aggregates, chemical composition of fly ash, amount of
role of binder in geopolymer concrete is replaced by fly vitreous phase in fly ash, nature, concentration and pH of
ash which also possess pozzolanic properties as OPC activators. The curing process of geopolymer concrete
and rich with alumina and silicate. Fly ash is residue from play shows a great influence on the development of
microstructure, and subsequently on the mechanical
characteristics of geopolymer (Komljenovi´c et al., 2010).
This paper summarizes the properties of fly ash-based
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mustafa_albakri@unimap.edu. geopolymer which make it better compared to normal
my. concrete.
2 J. Eng. Technol. Res.

ALKALINE SOLUTIONS increase, the compressive strength also increases. With

curing temperature in range of 60 to 90ºC, within time in
The common materials used as alkaline solution in 24 to 72 h, the compressive strength of concrete can be
producing fly ash-based geopolymer are sodium silicate 2
obtained about 400 to 500 kg/cm (Chanh et al., 2008). In
and potassium hydroxide. Usually either of this material addition, the compressive strength of geopolymers also
was mixed with sodium hydroxide to produce the alkaline mainly depended on the content of fly ash fine particles
solution and the molarity (M) of alkaline solution is 7 to 10 (smaller than 43 µm).
M. The alkaline solution was prepared a day before it is The compressive strength was increase when the finest
mixed with fly ash. Then, the materials are mixed of fly ash increase. Hence the nature and the
together with fine aggregate and coarse aggregate to concentration of the activators were dominant factors in
form concrete and curing process been done. the reaction of alkali activation. The highest compressive
Chindaprasirt et al. (2007) found that, to produce higher strength was obtained using a solution of sodium silicate
strength geopolymer, the optimum sodium silicate to as an activator (n = 1.5; 10% Na2O). Sodium silicate is
sodium hydroxide ratio was in range of 0.67 to 1.00. the most suitable as alkaline activator because it contains
Meanwhile, the concentration of NaOH between 10 and dissolved and partially polymerized silicon which reacts
20 M give small effect on the strength. easily, incorporates into the reaction products and
significantly contributes to improving the mortar
CURING PROCESS characteristics (Komljenovi´c et al., 2010).

Setting time of geopolymer depend on many factors such

as composition of alkaline solution and ratio of alkaline Resistance against aggressive environment
liquid to fly ash by mass. However, the curing
temperature is the most important factor for geopolymer. Fly ash-based geopolymer had been proved by many
As the curing temperature increases, the setting time of studies to provide better resistance against aggressive
concrete decreases (Chanh et al., 2008). During curing environment. As such, this advantage can be used to
process, the geopolymer concrete experience construct structure that exposed to marine environment
polymerization process. Due to the increasing of (Chanh et al., 2008).
temperature, polymerization become more rapid and the The exposure of geopolymer in acid solution shows
concrete can gain 70% of it strength within 3 to 4 h of that the weight loss due to the exposure is only 0.5%
curing (Kong and Sanjayan, 2008). compared to normal concrete when immersed in 3% acid
sulfuric (Sathia et al., 2008).
According to Bakharev (2005) in acidic exposure, high-
PROPERTIES OF GEOPOLYMER performance geopolymer materials deteriorate with the
formation of fissures in amorphous polymer matrix, while
Workability of fresh geopolymer low-performance geopolymers deteriorate through
crystallisation of zeolites and formation of fragile grainy
Water also play important role in geopolymer concrete as structures. The formation of aluminosilicate gel is
much as normal concrete. The used of water in important to determine the stability of geopolymer. More
geopolymer is to improve the workability, but it will crystalline geopolymer material prepared with sodium
increase the porosity in concrete due to the evaporation hydroxide was more stable in the aggressive environment
of water during curing process at elevated temperature of sulfuric and acetic acid solutions than amorphous
(Sathia et al., 2008). geopolymers prepared with the sodium silicate activator.
Chindaprasirt et al. (2007) discovered an increase in Thokchom et al. (2009) expose the geopolymer mortar
sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate concentration will in 10% sulfuric acid and found specimens still intact and
reduce the flow of mortar. The workable flow of did not show any recognizable change in colour after 18
geopolymer mortar was in the range of 110 ± 5 to 135 ± weeks. When observed under optical microscope, the
5%. expose surface reveled a corroded structure and it
To improve the workability of mortar, superplasticiser or progress with time of exposure. In addition, the weight
extra water can be added. However, the use of loss results obtained in this study showed better
superplasticiser had an adverse effect on the strength of performance than OPC and the specimens with higher
geopolymer. As such, extra water gives higher strength alkali content were observed to lose more weight than
than addition of superplasticiser. specimens with lower alkali content. At 18 weeks, the
specimens were fully dealkalized by the sulfuric acid as in
Compressive strength Figure 1, but it still had substantial residual compressive
strength to prove the higher resistance against acid
Compressive strength is an essential property for all exposure (Thokchom et al., 2009). Thokchom et al.
concrete where it also depends on curing time and curing (2009) investigated the effect of sodium oxide content on
temperature. When the curing time and temperature durability of geopolymer in sulphuric acid. Specimens with
 Al Bakri et al. 3

Figure 1. Residual alkalinity in 10% acid sulfuric solution.

Figure 2. Fly ash-based geopolymer specimens with white deposit after 24 weeks exposure.

varying alkali content showed varying degree of The maximum weight gain was produced by specimen
deterioration when exposed to sulphuric acid. Beside with minimum content of sodium oxide. Even so, all the
that, the specimens showed no visible sign of structural specimens only recorded a small gain weight compared
disintegration but under optical microscope observation, to normal concrete (Thokchom et al., 2010). Lodeiro et al.
the surface deterioration was clearly visible and it (2007) discovered that geopolymer are less prone to
appeared more severe in specimen with less alkali formation of alkali silica gel.
content. The specimen with maximum alkali content
experienced more reduction in weight compared to
minimum alkali content. One the other hand, specimen BEHAVIOUR OF GEOPOLYMER AT ELEVATED
with minimum alkali content loss more strength. Hence, TEMPERATURE
specimen with higher alkali content performed much
better than those with lower alkali content in terms of Fire resistance of concrete was other properties that are
residual compressive strength. always considered due to the safety of user. Kong and
When the fly ash-based geopolymer was exposed to Sanjayan (2008) said that the ratio of fly ash to alkaline
magnesium sulphate environment for 24 weeks, the white solution influence the general strength and fire resistance
deposit were observed on the surface on the specimens of geopolymer. It was found that the fly ash-based
as shown in Figure 2. Nevertheless, the observations geopolymer displayed increase in strength after
under optical microscope shown, only fine cracks were temperature exposure.
seen on a few specimens but there are no visible cracks Kong and Sanjayan (2010) observed the behavior of
observed on the specimen. The gain of specimen weight geopolymer concrete under elevated temperature
when immersed in magnesium sulphate depends of the affected by the size of aggregates. The aggregate with
sodium oxide content produced from alkaline activator. smaller sized (<10 mm) could lead to spalling and also
4 J. Eng. Technol. Res.

extensive cracking of geopolymer but the larger REFERENCES

aggregate (>10 mm) were more stable. In addition, the
Bakharev T (2006). Thermal behaviour of geopolymers prepared using
thermal incompatibility between the geopolymer matrix class F fly ash and elevated temperature curing. Cement Concrete
and its aggregate components was the most likely cause Res., 36: 1134-1147.
of strength loss in geopolymer concrete specimens at Bakharev T (2005). Resistance of geopolymer materials to acid attack.
Cement Concrete Res.. 35: 658-670.
elevated temperatures. It can be proved by comparison
Chindaprasirt P, Chareerat T, Siricicatnanon V (2007). Workability and
between geopolymer concretes made two different strength of coarse high calcium fly ash geopolymer. Cement
aggregates with distinctly different thermal expansion Concrete Compos., 29: 224-229.
characteristics. The geopolymer concrete with greater Chanh NV, Trung BD, Tuan DV (2008). Recent research geopolymer
concrete. The 3rd ACF International Coference –ACF/VCA.
incompatibility led to higher strength loss during elevated Kong DLY, Sanjayan JG (2008). Damage behavior of geopolymer
temperature. Thus, the expansion of aggregate with composites exposed to elevated temperature. Cement Concrete
respect to temperature was a factor that controls the Compos., 30: 986-991.
performance of geopolymer. Kong DLY, Sanjayan JG (2010). Effect of elevated temperatures
geopolymer paste, mortar and concrete. Cement Concrete Res., 40;
Bakharev (2006) observed the thermal stability of the
334-339.
geopolymer materials prepared with sodium containing Komljenovi´c M, Bascarevic Z, Bradic V (2010). Mechanical and
activators was rather low and significant changes in the microstructural properties of alkali-activated fly ash geopolymer. J.
microstructure occurred. At 800°C, the strength of the Hazardous Mater., 181: 35-42.
Lodeiro G, Palomo A, Jiménez F (2007). Alkali-aggregate reaction in
concrete was reduced due to the increase in the average
activated fly ash system. Cement Concrete Res., 37: 175-183.
pore size where amorphous structures were replaced by Sathia R, Babu KG, Santhanam M (2008). Durability study of low
the crystalline Na-feldspars. The reverse situation was calcium fly ash geopolymer concrete. The 3rd ACF International
observed when potassium silicate was used as activators Coference –ACF/VCA.
Thokchom S, Ghosh P, Ghosh S (2010). Performance of Fly ash Based
because it can remain mostly amorphous up to 1200°C. Geopolymer Mortars in Sulphate Solution. J. Eng. Tech. Rev., 3(1):
After firing these materials, it reduced average pore size 36-40.
and improved compressive strength of geopolymer. Fly Wallah SE (2009). Drying Shrinkage of Heat-Cured Fly Ash-Based
ash based geopolymer prepared using class F fly ash Geopolymer Concrete. Modern Appl. Sci., 3: 12.
with sodium and potassium silicate show high shrinkage
as well as large changes in compressive strength with
increasing fired temperature in the range 800 to 1200°C
(Bakharev, 2006).

CONCLUSION

Fly ash-based geopolymer is better than normal concrete

in many aspects such as compressive strength, exposure
to aggressive environment, workability and exposure to
high temperature.

View publication stats