Preparation of Metakaolin Based Geopolymer Foam Using a Combination of Na and K Types of Alkali Activators

Abstract

• Highlights could be presented by 3-5 bullets. • points capturing the novelty of • methods and/or results of the work. In this research, the OPC has been mixed with metakaolin, activator, hydrogen peroxide, and olive oil to synthesize hybrid geopolymer foam. Obtained results indicated internal heat release throughout OPC hydration in the combination. OPC has been employed as a calcium source in geopolymers (Geopolymer-Portland cement (HGPF)) to explore the curing process of geopolymers at ambient temperature. The functionality of geopolymer components and (HGPF) mixture, the elemental composition and proportion analyses have been compared. A principal aim of this research focuses on the development of geopolymer foam and conducting many tests such as physical tests that related to the surface area and pores size as well as compression of the foam to investigate the capacity of applying this foam in different applications that required good strength. Furthermore, microstructure tests using SEM and XRD techniques have been conducted to examine surface structure components. Overall, findings presented in this research shows that the materials selected to develop the geopolymer foam were compatible with each other giving high porosity with acceptable compression via optimizing the processing parameters by RSM.