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Solid Reactant-Based Geopolymers from Rice Hull Ash and Sodium Aluminate

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Abstract

High carbon rice hull ash and solid sodium aluminate were used as silica, alkali and alumina sources to synthesise one-part “just add water” geopolymer binders. Three binders with different Si/Al ratios and different water contents were studied. Due to the high carbon content of the samples, using a high amount of water is required to satisfy the workability of the binders. Similar to traditional geopolymer systems, high water content increases the crystallinity, decreases the reaction rate and negatively affects the microstructure of samples. In high carbon rice hull ash system, silica concentration is not a suitable indication of the silica availability for reaction, and the amount of unburned carbon in ash particles affects silica release rate. Increasing the silica content of raw materials leads to higher amount of Si/Al ratio in the final geopolymer binder and improves the mechanical and microstructural properties of samples. All samples studied here successfully made geopolymer binders. The highest strength achieved was 22 MPa after 3 weeks.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded in part by the Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing through the Geopolymer Alliance, and in part by the Australian Research Council (including partial support through the Particulate Fluids Processing Centre). The authors would like to acknowledge the guidance of Professor John L. Provis of the University of Sheffield during the course of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia

    Ailar Hajimohammadi

  2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia

    Jannie S. J. van Deventer

  3. Zeobond Pty Ltd, P.O. Box 23450, Docklands, Victoria, 8012, Australia

    Jannie S. J. van Deventer

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  1. Ailar Hajimohammadi
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  2. Jannie S. J. van Deventer
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Correspondence to Ailar Hajimohammadi.

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Hajimohammadi, A., van Deventer, J.S.J. Solid Reactant-Based Geopolymers from Rice Hull Ash and Sodium Aluminate. Waste Biomass Valor 8, 2131–2140 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-016-9735-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-016-9735-6

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