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Comparative study on early strength of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) activated fly ash

based geopolymer

Conference Paper  in  AIP Conference Proceedings · September 2017

DOI: 10.1063/1.5003542

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Comparative study on early strength of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) activated fly ash
based geopolymer
Zarina Yahya, Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri Abdullah, Siti Zulaikha Abd Talib, and Rafiza Abd Razak

Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 1887, 020059 (2017); doi: 10.1063/1.5003542

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5003542
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/apc/1887/1
Published by the American Institute of Physics

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Comparative Study on Early Strength of Sodium Hydroxide
(NaOH) Activated Fly Ash based Geopolymer
Zarina Yahya1,2, a) , Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri Abdullah1,2,b), Siti Zulaikha Abd
Talib2,c) and Rafiza Abd Razak1,2,d)
1
Center of Excellence Geopolymer and Green Technology, School of Materials Engineering, Universiti Malaysia
Perlis (UniMAP), Malaysia.
2
Faculty of Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Malaysia.
a)
Corresponding author: azarinayahya@unimap.edu.my,
b)
mustafa_albakri@unimap.edu.my,
c)
sitizulaika283@gmail.com,
d)
rafizarazak@unimap.edu.my

Abstract. The urge to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emission has encourage researchers to introduce environmental
friendly binder or known as geopolymer. This new binder was produced by mixing source materials rich in silica and
alumina with alkaline liquids. For this study, class F fly ash was used as source material with two different types of
alkaline activator; sodium hydroxide (NaOH) only and a combination of water glass with NaOH. The different
concentration of the NaOH solutions (8M, 10M, 12M and 14M) is used in the production of geopolymer. The parameters
such as curing regime, solid/liquid ratio, and water glass/NaOH ratio are controlled in the study. The samples with
combination of NaOH and water glass as alkaline activator were prepared by mixing these two solution and stirred for 2
minutes. Then this solution were mixed together with fly ash for 3 minutes and casted in the mould. The performance of
the fly ash based geopolymer are evaluated by the compressive strength, water absorption and density at the early age of
1th, 3th and 7th days. Based on the study, at a concentration of 14M on 7th days had achieved the maximum
compressive strength of 7.1 MPa for samples activated with NaOH only. Meanwhile, for geopolymer samples activated
with a combination of the water glass and NaOH, the maximum strength of 33.33 MPa was recorded on 7th days of
testing with NaOH concentration of 12 M. The water absorption for all geopolymer samples were ranging from 2.04 % to
2.78%, which are below the limit (3%). While the density of the geopolymer paste were in the range of 1552 kg/m3 to
1680 kg/m3, which are below the limit (2400 kg/m3). From the standpoint of strength of hardened geopolymer samples,
the most effective alkaline activator in geopolymer is the combination of NaOH and water glass.

INTRODUCTION
Cement is a common pozzolanic material or binder used in the construction industry. Nonetheless, the
production of cement lead to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission especially during clinker production [1]. Hence, due to
the urge to produce eco-friendly binder, geopolymer or alkali activated cements was introduced by Davidovits in
1978 [2-4]. The materials that rich in alumina and silicates such as fly ash, kaolinite and slag can be used in
geopolymer as mineral sources. The reactivity of these sources depends on the chemical composition, particularly
the content of silica oxide (SiO2), alumina oxide (Al2O3) and calcium oxide (CaO), the morphology of the particle
shapes, phase of materials as well as the particle sizes [1]. Fly ash is generally considered as a waste material and it
is a by-product of coal combustion process for electric power plant. The physical and chemical properties of fly ash
are similar to cement, which allows it to be used in concrete.

Geopolymerisation process can be referred as alkaline activation where it transforms the amorphous phase of
source materials into composite which have binding property [5-6]. The presence of strong alkaline solution such as

Green Construction and Engineering Education for Sustainable Future

AIP Conf. Proc. 1887, 020059-1–020059-6; doi: 10.1063/1.5003542
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1570-6/$30.00

020059-1
sodium hydroxide (NaOH), potassium hydroxide (KOH), water glass or their combinations are required for
geopolymerisation to occur. The activation of fly ash with alkaline solution dissolves the soluble amorphous phase
during geopolymerisation and form geopolymer product [7]. The product from geopolymerisation process was an
amorphous to semi-crystalline 3-Dimensional aluminosilicate framework structures with a combination of silica
[SiO4] 4- and alumina [AlO4] 5- tetrahedral [8]. The higher concentration of alkaline activator increases the amount
of dissolved amorphous content of fly ash, which is important in determining the geopolymerisation product and the
properties of hardened geopolymer [9-10].

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect NaOH concentration on the early strength development of
fly ash activated with NaOH only as well as combinations of NaOH and water glass as alkaline activator.

EXPERIMENTAL TESTING

Sample Preparation
The fly ash used in this study was class F and it was obtained from Cement Industries of Malaysia Berhad
(CIMA) Perlis, Malaysia. The chemical composition of this fly ash was shown in Table 1. According to ATM C618,
this fly ash was classified as class F with calcium content less than 20%. Two type of samples were produced where
one group of samples was activated with NaOH only (GNA) and other one is combination of NaOH and water glass
(GWG). The concentration of NaOH solution for each group are 8M, 10M, 12M, and 14M. The details about the
preparation process will be discussed separately as follows.
TABLE 1. Chemical composition of fly ash
Component Fly Ash (Weight, %)
SiO2 55.9
Al2O3 27.8
CaO 3.95
Fe2O3 7.09
TiO2 2.25
K2O 1.55
SrO 0.37
ZrO2 0.13
RuO2 0.24

For each concentration of NaOH solution, NaOH pellets were mixed with distilled water and was rested in
laboratory to cool down its temperature at least one day prior to use. In order to produce 1 liter NaOH solution for
each concentration, the total mass NaOH pellets were calculated and summarized as in Table 2.

TABLE 2. Preparation of NaOH solution

Concentration (M) Mass of NaOH pellets
(g)
8 320
10 400
12 480
14 560

Fly ash and NaOH solution were mixed in the mixer for 3 minutes and then it was casted in 50 mm x 50 mm x
50 mm mould. All the samples were cured in the oven for 24 hours at temperature 60oC. The early strength of
geopolymer samples were evaluate on 1st, 3rd, and 7th day. Total of 3 samples for each mix design were tested for
compressive strength and average value were recorded. The density and water absorption also tested for each
samples. Table 3 showed the details of mix design for two group of geopolymer samples where the ratio of fly

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ash/NaOH or fly ash/alkaline activator were fixed at 2.0. Meanwhile the ratio of water glass/NaOH was maintained
at 2.5 for samples in GWG group.

TABLE 3. Details of mix design

Mix Label Concentration of Ratio Ratio FA/AA Ratio WG/NaOH
NaOH (M) FA/NaOH
GNA08 8 2.0 - -
GNA10 10 2.0 - -
GNA12 12 2.0 - -
GNA14 14 2.0 - -
GWG08 8 - 2.0 2.5
GWG10 10 - 2.0 2.5
GWG12 12 - 2.0 2.5
GWG14 14 - 2.0 2.5
FA = fly ash, AA = alkaline activator (mixture of NaOH and water glass), WG = water glass

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Compressive Strength
The compressive strength of geopolymer samples activated with different activator solution was shown in Fig. 1.
The compressive strength of GNA samples were ranging from 3.0 MPa to 7.1 MPa. The compressive strength
increased gradually when the concentration of NaOH increased. The maximum compressive strength was
contributed by sample GNA14 for all tested days. The increasing of NaOH concentration affect the geopolymer
synthesis as the solubility of the aluminosilicate high when the content Na increased [11]. The Na content from
NaOH solution helped to stabilize the silicates monomers hence increased the dissolution rate of Si and Al from fly
ash. More gel phase (geopolymer network) were form when the dissolution rates increased as well as the hardening
process of gel phase. Moreover, the compressive strength displayed an increment for all samples when the aging
period increased. This is due to the continuality geopolymerisation process in the samples that lead to strength
development.

FIGURE 1. Compressive strength of geopolymer samples activated with NaOH only and combination of water glass and NaOH

Meanwhile for geopolymer samples activated with combination of NaOH and water glass displayed a significant
strength increment compared to samples activated with NaOH only. The maximum compressive strength recorded

020059-3
was 31.33 MPa (GWG12) at 7th days. The addition of water glass to NaOH solution lead to additional of soluble
silicate (SiO2) and alkali (Na2O content) to the system which resulted in an increase of SiO2/Na2O oxide in the
alkaline activator thus increasing the geopolymerisation process [12]. Since, the water glass accelerate the
geopolymerisation process, the strength and physical properties of hardened geopolymer also enhanced. The use of
NaOH alone as activating solution resulted in lower compressive strength especially when low NaOH concentration
was used. However, the utilization of NaOH as alkaline solution was more environmental friendly compared to
water glass in term of CO2 emission. Through the production of water glass, it required high temperature (1200-
1400 °C) to refurbish sodium carbonate (NaCO3) and SiO2, where CO2 was released during this process [13].

Overall, the compressive strength increased when the concentration of NaOH increased. For GNA group,
samples with 14 M concentration (GNA14) lead to maximum compressive strength. However, for GWG group the
maximum strength was contributed by 12 M (GWG12). The GWG14 samples showed reduction in strength due to
excessive Si and Na which causes the quick formation of alumina-silicates gel at early stages and lead to
precipitation thus reducing mechanical strength [14]. In the geopolymer samples which contain low Na content have
low hydroxide ions (OH-) to break up the Si4+ and Al3+ from the source material. Due to low Na content, the
formation of geopolymer network also less thus lead to low compressive strength.

Density
The density of the geopolymer samples was measured on 1st, 3rd and 7th days, each value corresponding to the
average of three measurement as in Table 4. The density of the geopolymer samples are measured by mass per
volume of the samples and the density are in the range of 1552 kg/m3 to 1680 kg/m3. The highest density of the
geopolymer samples activated with NaOH only was 1670 kg/m3 (GNA14) at concentration of 14 M while 1680
kg/m3 (GWG12) for combination of NaOH and water glass at concentration of 12 M. It can be noticed that, the
increasing of the density is directly proportional to the compressive strength of the geopolymer samples. The
geopolymer samples possess high density due to the high content of the Na in the alkaline activators which give high
reactivity, lead the samples to be denser [15].

TABLE 4. Density of geopolymer samples

Mix Label 1st Day 3rd Day 7th Day
GNA08 1552 1634 1641
GNA10 1570 1643 1655
GNA12 1592 1650 1657
GNA14 1593 1658 1670
GWG08 1562 1630 1647
GWG10 1585 1643 1653
GWG12 1602 1660 1680
GWG14 1599 1650 1668

Water Absorption
In this study, the water absorption of the geopolymer samples for both group illustrated in the Fig. 2. It showed
that, with increasing NaOH concentration geopolymer samples activated with NaOH only (GNA) resulted maximum
water absorption of 2.6% (GNA08) and minimum value of 2.2% (GNA14). Meanwhile, for the geopolymer
activated by combination of NaOH and water glass (GWG) showed the highest water absorption at concentration of
8M (GWG08) and the lowest water absorption is at concentration of 12M (GWG12) which are 2.48% and 2.3%
respectively.

020059-4
 FIGURE 2. Water absorption of geopolymer samples
In this research, it showed that water absorption of the geopolymer are in the range of 2.28% to 2.6%, which is
below than 3%. Water absorption less than 3% show good quality of the geopolymer as water absorption of
geopolymer greater than 5% considered as not good quality geopolymer as it can reduce the compressive strength
[15]. The rate of the water absorption decrease when there is high concentration of NaOH in geopolymer samples.
With the addition of water glass, the hardened geopolymer samples were denser hence it was difficult for water to
penetrate.

CONCLUSION
In this study the activation of fly ash with NaOH and combination with water glass were investigated. The
following conclusion can be drawn from this study:

x ‡ The geopolymer samples with NaOH concentration 14M achieved the maximum compressive strength for
NaOH activated.
x ‡ Maximum compressive strength for combination of NaOH and water glass was obtained at concentration of
NaOH 12M.
x ‡ The density of the geopolymer samples are measured by mass per volume and the density are in the range
of 1552 kg/m3 to 1680 kg/m3.
x ‡ Water absorption less than 3% showed good quality and all geopolymer samples recorded water absorption
in range of 2.28% to 2.6%.

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