Alkali activation of fayalite slag

In this thesis, alkali activation of fayalite slag was investigated. The slag utilized is a waste by product from nickel production, the activation of which resulted in the formation of a geopolymer binder of acceptable properties. The need for a reduction in overall waste output as well as the cementitious properties exhibited by this slag motivated this study. The literature section of this research provides an insight on the previous work in the area of geopolymerization, the source materials used, the activators employed as well as the properties exhibited by various geopolymer products. The experimental section reports the particle size distribution and particle size optimization as well as geopolymer synthesis. The size reduction was carried out by milling for a required time while the particle size optimization and mix design was done with “Elkem Material Mixture Analyser (EMMA). The milling reduced the particle size of fayalite slag to 10.08 µm after 3 hours which is sufficient fineness for most geopolymer precursors. Different mix compositions were activated with potassium silicate and sodium hydroxide at varying mass ratio with the one activated with 50:50 mass ratio of NaOH /K₂SiO₃ had the highest mechanical strength. The workability and setting time were good for the mixtures with liquid to solid ratio from 0.1–0.2. Compressive strength test were carried out on various mix compositions and the result shows the maximum compressive strength of 16.5 MPa was achieved at room temperature after 28 days. The water absorption was very low (5%). It was also noticed that the strength after water absorption was higher than the unconfined compressive strength due to subjection of slag geopolymer to elevated temperature before water absorption. The alkali activation of fayalite slag has shown promising properties which could further be improved for better mechanical performance