Synthesis of One-Part Alkali-Activated Cement and Albite-Diopside Glass-Ceramic from Calcium-Alumina-Silicate Precursors

Alkali Activated Cements (AAC) are cementitious materials formed by an alkaline reaction with amorphous or vitreous alumina-silicates (Al2O3-SiO2). When mixed with solid or liquid alkaline activators in a chemical reaction known as alkali-activation or alkalination, they set and harden, providing a material with developed binding, mechanical, and durability properties. Glass-ceramic materials (GCMs) are the main materials that can be synthesised from AACs because most of their chemical and mineralogical components are present in AAC powders due to their calcium-alumina-silicate (CaO-Al2O3-SiO2) precursors. Conventional two-part alkali activation has many handling shortcomings. Hence, there is pressure to develop a one-part AAC that could be used as an alternative to OPC. Furthermore, the traditional methods of synthesising GCM have several limitations associated with the complex preparation of crystallisation promoters from pure expensive chemicals and the high energy consumption during production process. In this work, a one-part AAC and a glass-ceramic product free from pure synthetic crystallisation promoter, have been developed. Extensive analytical techniques were used, to characterise the chemical, mineralogical and microstructural performance of the raw materials. Further testing procedures were conducted to assess the setting times and the compressive and flexural strengths of the developed AAC and the thermal and electrical performance of the GCM