Metakaolin and red ceramic based geopolymers production

Abstract

The increase of CO2 released during the application and production of Portland cement has promoted the necessity to study a new kind of binder. The alkali-activated materials have similar properties of Portland cement; this way, some applications in the civil construction can be made using these materials. The aim of this work was to produce metakaolin and red ceramic based geopolymers. The specimens showed mechanical strength close to 30 MPa after 28 days of curing. The analysis of the microstructure demonstrated that the use of red ceramic did not modify the geopolymerization reactions. However, the red ceramic promoted changes in the water absorption, porosity and density values. The geopolymers surface showed some intact red ceramic particles. This was related to low reactivity of the raw material that promoted the observed modifications of the geopolymeric specimens.