Utilization of some industrial wastes for eco-friendly cement production

The development of new eco-friendly construction materials alternatives to Portland cement is of greatest importance to the industry and world climate, this will minimize the utility of fast deteriorating natural resources and also reduce the emission of green - house gases. In this investigation, Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) has been used to produce geopolymer cement (GPC) at ambient temperature and at about 100% relative humidity, the influence of replacing slag by 5 and 10% of fly ash or clay- bricks wastes (Homra) as well as the effect of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide ratio (SS:SH) in the alkaline activator solution on the properties of the produced geopolymer have been investigated. This was done through measurement of compressive strength values, water absorption as well as performing FTIR spectra, XRD patterns and SEM imaging. From the experimental results, the optimum percentage replacement of GGBS with FA or Homra is 5%. Besides, the optimum SS:SH ratio is 1 by weight, while 0.5 ratio produces the lowest compressive strength and higher water absorption values.