Taftan Pozzolan-Based Geopolymer Cement

  Abstract: In recent years, many research works have been done to investigate the possibility of utilizing a broad range of materials as raw materials in the production of geopolymer cements. The use of artificial pozzolans or aluminosilicate-type industrial waste materials such as granulated blast-furnace slag and fly ash has been reported in many research works. Natural pozzolans are also aluminosilicate-type materials which can be activated with solutions of NaOH and Na2SiO3. Using a pumice-type natural pozzolan from Taftan Mountain located at the south east of Iran and different alkali-activators based on combinations of Na2SiO3 and NaOH, a number of natural-pozzolan-based geopolymer cement systems were designed and prepared. Final setting time, workability, and 28-day compressive strength of the systems were studied. The results obtained reveal that Taftan pozzolan can be activated using a proportioned mixture of Na2SiO3 and NaOH resulting in the formation of a geopolymer cement system exhibiting suitable workability and relatively high 28-day compressive strengths up to 63 MPa.