RSM Optimizing the Characteristics of Metakaolin based Geopolymer Foam

Abstract

The present study reports on the development of cost-effective hybrid geopolymer foam from metakaolin via a direct foaming mechanism to produce pores differ in amount and size to be suitable for wide range of applications such as filtration, catalyst support, acoustic and thermal insulation. The main goal of this research project has been to investigate the possibility of producing geopolymer foam with high compressive strength and high porosity at the same time. The complexity of the structure, the variety of the process parameters, and the impure nature of the starting materials make it hard to optimize the preparation process of HGPF and to evaluate the influence of each processing parameter on the final conducted characteristics. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) has been utilized to examine the influence of the main process parameters, on the compressive strength, and the physical characteristics of the samples with final aim to optimize the preparation process. The study involved investigation of batch (0.2 of K2O). The studied parameters were (silica content, water amount, OPC%, H2O2 %, and Olive oil %).