Mechanical performance and hydration mechanism of geopolymer composite reinforced by resin

A series of alkali-activated metakaolin (MK)/granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS)-based geopolymer composites by incorporating with different amount of resin were synthesized. The mechanical performance of MK/GBFS-based geopolymer was remarkably reinforced by doping amount of 1 wt% resin at the curing age of 28 d. The XRD results demonstrated that the geopolymer composite has both amorphous and semicrystaline structure characteristics. The hydration mechanism produced geopolymer composite was proposed in detail. The SEM and pore size distribution results revealed that the microcracks of MK/GBFS-based geopolymer were significantly modified and the volume fraction of micropore is obviously increased due to filling effect of resin. The TGA, DTG and DSC results implied that the resin has an effect of immobilizing water and effectively postpone the water evaporation resulting in the reinforcement of compressive and flexural strengths of MK/GBFS-based geopolymer composites.