Cleaner geopolymer prepared by co-activation of gasification coal fly ash and steel slag: durability properties and economic assessment

Highlights

● Better packing density and higher early strength of SS-rich geopolymer.

● C-S-H and portlandite as the main hydration phase in SS-rich geopolymer.

● Increased Si/Al of geopolymer gel and better long-term performance of SFA-rich geopolymer.

● Low cost of SFA-SS geopolymers concrete.

Abstract

Geopolymer is a material with high early strength. However, the insufficient durability properties, such as long-term strength, acid-base resistance, freeze–thaw resistance, leaching toxicity, thermal stability, sulfate resistance and carbonation resistance, restrain its practical application. Herein, a long-term stable geopolymer composite with high final strength (ASK1) was synthesized from shell coal gasification fly ash (SFA) and steel slag (SS). Additionally, a geopolymer composite with high early strength (ASK2) was also synthesized for comparison. The results showed that ASK1 exhibited better performance on freezing-thawing resistance, carbonization resistance and heavy metals stabilization compared to the ASK2 at long-term curing. Raising the curing temperature could accelerate the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) development at initial curing ages of 3 to 7 d. Both ASK1 and ASK2 exhibited excellent acid-base and sulfate corrosion resistance. An increase for UCS was seen under KOH solution and MgSO₄ solution corrosion for ASK1. All leaching concentrations of heavy metals out of the two geopolymers were below the standard threshold, even after 50 freezing-thawing cycles. Both ASK1 and ASK2 geopolymer concrete exhibited higher sustainability and economic efficiency than Portland cement concrete. The result of this study not only provides a suitable way for the utilization of industrial solid waste in civil and environmental engineering, but also opens a new approach to improve the long-term stabilities of the geopolymers.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Geopolymer / Shell coal gasification fly ash / Steel slag / Heavy metal / Solidification/stabilization / Durability

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Jiangxi Academy of Water Science and Engineering Open Project Fund (No. 2021SKSG04); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51979011); the Central Non-Profit Scientific Research Fund for Institutes (Nos. CKSF2021483/CL, CKSF2023359/HL, and CKSF2023397/HL); the Knowledge Innovation Program of Science and Technology Bureau of Wuhan, China (No. CKSD2022360/CL).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-023-1750-9 and is accessible for authorized users.

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