• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.205-212
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• 2016

This research investigates the influence of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) composition on the alkali-activated slag cement (AASC). Aluminum oxide ($Al_2O_3$) was added to GGBFS binder between 2% and 16% by weight. The alkaline activators KOH (potassium hydroxide) was used and the water to binder ratio of 0.50. The strength development results indicate that increasing the amount of $Al_2O_3$ enhanced hydration. The 2M KOH + 16% $Al_2O_3$ and 4M KOH + 16% $Al_2O_3$ specimens had the highest strength, with an average of 30.8 MPa and 45.2 MPa, after curing for 28days. The strength at 28days of 2M KOH + 16% $Al_2O_3$ was 46% higher than that of 2M KOH (without $Al_2O_3$). Also, the strength at 28days of 4M KOH + 16% $Al_2O_3$ was 44% higher than that of 4M KOH (without $Al_2O_3$). Increase the $Al_2O_3$ contents of the binder results in the strength development at all curing ages. The incorporation of AASC tended to increases the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) due to the similar effects of strength, but increasing the amount of $Al_2O_3$ adversely decreases the water absorption and porosity. Higher addition of $Al_2O_3$ in the specimens increases the Al/Ca and Al/Si in the hydrated products. SEM and EDX analyses show that the formation of much denser microstructures with $Al_2O_3$ addition.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.319-326
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• 2017

In this study, a lightweight geopolymer was prepared using by slag discharged from IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) power plant and its physical properties, the density and compressive strength, were analyzed as a function of the concentration of alkali activators, W/S ratio and aging times. Also the possibility of applying it to lightweight materials by adding Si sludge as a foaming agent to the geopolymerg was investigated. In particular, a complex composition of alkali activator and a pre-curing process were applied to improve the strength properties of lightweight geopolymers. While the compressive strength of the lightweight geopolymer using a single activator was 9.5 MPa, the specimen made with a complex composition of alkali activator had compressive strength of 2~5 times higher. In addition, the lightweight geopolymer with pre-curing process showed a compressive strength value of 18~48 % higher than that of specimen made with no precuring process. In this study, by using a complex activator and a pre-curing process. the maximum compressive strength of lightweight geopolymer was obtained as 40 MPa (The specimen was aged for 3 days and had density of $1.83g/cm^3$), which is comparable to cement concrete. By analyzing the crystal phase and microstructure of geopolymers obtained in this study using by XRD and SEM, respectively, it was confirmed that the flower-bud-like zeolite crystal was homogeneously distributed on the surface of the C-S-H gel (sodium silicate hydrate gel) in the geopolymer.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.315-322
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• 2012

Alkali-activated slag (AAS) is the most obvious alternative materials that can replace OPC. But, AAS industrial usage as a structural material should be evaluated for its durability. Carbonation resistance is one of the most important factors in durability evaluation. Test results for 18 slag-based mortars activated by sodium silicate and 6 OPC mortars were obtained in this study to verify the carbonation property. Main variables considered in the study were flow, compressive strength before and after carbonation, and carbonation depth. Mineralogical and micro-structural analysis of OPC and AAS specimens prior to and after carbonation was conducted using XRD, TGA, FTIR FE-SEM. Test results showed that CHS was major hydration products of AAS and, unlike OPC, no other hydration products were found. After carbonation, CSH of hydration product in AAS turned into an amorphous silica gel, and alumina compounds was not detected. From the analysis of the results, it was estimated that the micro-structures of CSH in AAS easily collapsed during carbonation. Also, the results showed that this collapse of chemical chain of CSH lowered the compressive strength of concrete after carbonation. By increasing the dosage of activators, carbonation resistance and compressive strength were effectively improved.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.18 no.2 s.92
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• pp.267-274
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• 2006

Greenhouse gas reduction will be highlighted as the most pending question in the cement industry in future because the production of Portland cement not only consumes limestone, clay, coal, and electricity, but also release waste gases such as $CO_2,\;SO_3$, and NOX, which can contribute to the greenhouse effect and acid rain. To meet the increase of cement demand and simultaneously comply with the Kyoto Protocol, cement that gives less $CO_2$ discharge should be urgently developed. This study aims to manufacture non-sintering cement(NSC) by adding phosphogypsum(PG) and waste lime(WL) to granulated blast furnace slag(GBFS) as sulfate and alkali activators. This study also Investigates the hydration reaction of NSC through analysis of scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), differential thermal analysis(DTA), and pH. Results obtained from analysis of the hydrate have shown that the glassy films of GBFS are destroyed by the activation of alkali and sulfate, ions eluted from the inside of GBFS react with PG and produce ettringite, and consequently the remaining component in GBFS slowly produced C-5-H(I) gel. Here, PG is considered not only to play the role of simple activator, but also to work as a binder reacting with GBFS.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.245-252
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• 2015

As people have more interest in environment-friendly structures recently, many researchers are actively researching non-sintered cement in Korea and other countries. Non-sintered cement shows various characteristics of its reaction products and hardeners, depending on the kind of alkali activators. Thus, this study manufactures ground granulated blast furnace slag based non-sintered cement binder by using circulating fluidized bed combustion ash, which is a kind of industrial byproduct, as a stimulant, and investigated its hardening characteristics and hydration, depending on the rate of circulating fluidized bed combustion ash. Besides, this study investigated its insulation property according to the weight lightening of non-sintered cement. As a result, ettringite and C-S-H were mainly formed in the hydration, and it was possible to manufacture a non-sintered cement hardener over 50 MPa. Lastly, it was possible to manufacture a non-sintered cement hardener in a thermal conductivity level of $0.127W/m{\cdot}K$ when the compressive strength was 10 MPa for weight lightening.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.204-210
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• 2022

Cement is pointed out as the main cause of carbon dioxide emission in the construction industry. Many researchs are underway to use blast furnace slag, an industrial by-product, as a substitute for cement to reduce carbon dioxide emitted during the manufacturing the cement. When blast furnace slag is used as a substitute for cement, it has advantages such as long-term strength and chemical resistance improvement. However, blast furnace slag has a problem that makes initial strength low. This is due to the impermeable film on the surface created during the production of blast furnace slag. The created film is known to be destroyed in an alkaline environment, and based on this, previous studies have suggested a solution using various alkali activators. But, alkali activator is dangerous product since it is a strong alkaline material. And it has the disadvantage in price competitiveness. In this study, an experiment was conducted to improve the initial hydration reactivity of the blast furnace slag to secure the initial strength of the mortar substituted with the blast furnace slag and to check whether the carbonation resistance was increased. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that the mortar using alkaline water showed higher strength than the mortar using tap water, and there were more hydration products generated inside. In addition, it was confirmed that the mortar using alkaline water as a compounding water had high carbonation resistance.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.510-516
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• 2013

Fly ash is one of the aluminosilicate sources used for the synthesis of geopolymers. The particle size distribution of fly ash and the content of unburned carbon residue are known to affect the compressive strength of geopolymers. In this study, the effects of particle size and unburned carbon content of fly ash on the compressive strength of geopolymers have been studied over a compositional range in geopolymer gels. Unburned carbon was effectively separated in the $-46{\mu}m$ fraction using an air classifier and the fixed carbon content declined from 3.04 wt% to 0.06 wt%. The mean particle size ($d_{50}$) decreased from $22.17{\mu}m$ to $10.79{\mu}m$. Size separation of fly ash by air classification resulted in reduced particle size and carbon residue content with a collateral increase in reactivity with alkali activators. Geopolymers produced from carbon-free ash, which was separated by air classification, developed up to 50 % higher compressive strength compared to geopolymers synthesized from raw ash. It was presumed that porous carbon particles hinder geopolymerization by trapping vitreous spheres in the pores of carbon particles and allowing them to remain intact in spite of alkaline attack. The microstructure of the geopolymers did not vary considerably with compressive strength, but the highest connectivity of the geopolymer gel network was achieved when the Si/Al ratio of the geopolymer gel was 5.0.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.449-456
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• 2014

Material properties of geopolymer, whose the reaction is very complicated, have been influenced by chemical compositions and particle size distributions of fly ash, concentrations and types of alkali-activators and curing conditions such as temperatures and time. In this research, experiments with several variables such as curing temperatures, preset prior to the high temperature curing and high temperatures have been conducted in order to evaluate to investigate effects on the compressive strengths of geopolymer caused by curing condition. Experiment results were evaluated with compressive strengths and micro-structures such as SEM and MIP of geopolymer pastes. As a result, as higher curing temperature or longer preset time were applied to the pastes, higher compressive strengths were observed. However, compressive strengths of geopolymer pastes declined due to increases in macropores (>50 nm) under high temperatures elapsed after 24 hours. In this sense, it can be considered that strengths and microstructures of geopolymers depends on curing temperature and time.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.302-309
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• 2019

This paper shows an experimental study for fundamental characteristics of alkali activated fly ash-slag cement paste exposed to seawater of 5℃. Fly ash and slag were blended in three different ratios; 6:4, 7:3, and 8:2. Activators (NaOH and Na2SiO3) used 5% of the binder weight. It was shown that as the fly ash substitution rate in creased, compressive strength and density decreased, and water absorption rate increased. The results of X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetry showed that hydration reactants formed in samples did not differ significantly, however, C-S-H gel increased as the slag substitution rate increased. It showed that mechanical properties of fly ash-slag cement pastes under 5℃ seawater condition were affected by the slag substitution rate rather than fly ash.

• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.378-382
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• 2018

It is a known fact that the cement production is responsible for almost 5% of total worldwide $CO_2$ emission, the primary factor affecting global warming. Geopolymers are valuable as ordinary Portland cement (OPC) substitutes because geopolymers release 80% less $CO_2$ than OPC and have mechanical properties sufficiently similar to those of OPC. Therefore, geopolymers have proven attractive to eco-friendly construction industries. Geopolymers can be fabricated from aluminum silicate materials with alkali activators such as fly ash, blast furnace slag, and so on. Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) slag has been used for fabricating geopolymers. In general, IGCC slag geopolymers are fabricated with finely ground and sieved (<128 mesh) IGCC slag. The grinding process of as-received IGCC slag is one of the main costs in geopolymer production. Therefore, the idea of using as-received IGCC slag (before grinding the IGCC slag) as aggregates in the geopolymer matrix was introduced to reduce production cost as well as to enhance compressive strength. As-received IGCC slag (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 wt%) was added in the geopolymer mixing process and the mixtures were compared. The compressive strength of geopolymers with an addition of 10 wt% as-received IGCC slag increased by 19.84% compared to that with no additional as-received IGCC slag and reached up to 41.20 MPa. The enhancement of compressive strength is caused by as-received IGCC slag acting as aggregates in the geopolymer matrix like aggregates in concrete. The density of geopolymers slightly increased to $2.1-2.2g/cm^3$ with increasing slag addition. Therefore, it is concluded that a small addition of as-received IGCC slag into the geopolymer can increase compressive strength and decrease the total cost of the product. Moreover, the direct use of as-received IGCC slag may contribute to environment protection by reducing process time and $CO_2$ emission.