Feasibility of aluminosilicate compounds from various raw materials: Chemical reactivity and mechanical properties

Abstract : The study of the feasibility of geopolymer formulations was realized from several aluminosilicate sources. Six of them led to the formation of geopolymer-type materials and were confronted with three other reference metakaolins. Several fundamental parameters were identified. A correlation was revealed between these parameters and the reactivity of the mixture, the microstructure and the behavior according to the time of consolidated materials from the various data issues from structural and mechanical characterizations. It has proved possible to predict the behavior of the reactive mixture until its evolution after consolidation for any raw material containing a metakaolinitic phase. All the results allowed to establish a model based on the existence of various geopolymer-type networks: (i) the first one in whom the aluminum atoms participate with the silicon as formers of the network (aluminum-rich) and (ii) the second where the aluminum atoms play the role of compensators in a network rich in silicon.