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Sago pith waste ash as a potential raw material for ceramic and geopolymer
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J Mater Cycles Waste Manag
DOI 10.1007/s10163-017-0672-7

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Sago pith waste ash as a potential raw material for ceramic

and geopolymer fabrication
Mohamad Rohaidzat bin Mohamed Rashid1,2 · Mustafa Juma A. Mijarsh3 ·
Hazman Seli4 · Megat Azmi Megat Johari5 · Zainal Arifin Ahmad1 

Received: 2 November 2015 / Accepted: 3 October 2017

© Springer Japan KK 2017

Abstract  This study focuses on the potential usage of sago
pith waste ash (SPWA) obtained from sago pith waste (SPW)
calcined from 500 to 1000 °C. SPWA was characterized by
TGA/DTA, XRD, XRF, FTIR, and FESEM incorporating
with EDX. About 4% of SPWA was generated from each
tonne of SPW at 700 °C as the optimum calcination tem-
perature as indicated by thermal analysis. The phases found
in SPWA at calcination temperatures of less than 800 °C
are quartz, calcite, and magnesite. XRF analysis found that
SPWA was mainly composed of CaO and ­SiO2 with the
presence of other oxides such as MgO, F ­ e2O3, and A
­ l 2O 3.
* Zainal Arifin Ahmad
srzainal@usm.my
Mohamad Rohaidzat bin Mohamed Rashid
mrohaidzat@sarawak.uitm.edu.my
Mustafa Juma A. Mijarsh
eng.mustafajuma@gmail.com
Hazman Seli
hazmanseli@sarawak.uitm.edu.my
Megat Azmi Megat Johari
cemamj@usm.my
1
Structural Materials Niche Area, School of Materials
and Mineral Resources Engineering, Universiti Sains
Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia
2
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Samarahan Kampus, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak,
Malaysia
3 forests have been cleared in the recent decades to pave way
Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering,
Al-Mergeb University, Al‑Khums, Libya
4 ern Borneo, especially in Oya-dalat, Mukah, Pusak-Saratok,
Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Samarahan Kampus,
94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia
5
School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia,
14300, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia
Both CaO and S ­ iO2 are very significant oxides as they can be
used as an alternative binder for the synthesis of geopolymer
products, especially in combination with other ashes such as
fly ash (FA). Geopolymers fabricated from FA partially sub-
stituted with SPWA showed a 5% increase in compressive
strength. Therefore, the benefits of SPWA are twofold: first,
as a resource of renewable energy generated through the
burning of SPW which can be utilized by related industries,
and second, SPWA itself becomes a potential raw material
for the production of ceramic and geopolymer products.
Keywords  Sago pith waste · Characterization ·
Calcination temperatures · Geopolymer
Introduction
Sago is a starch extracted from the spongy centre, or pith, of
various tropical palm stems, especially Metroxylon sagu [1].
It is traditionally cooked and eaten in various forms such as
rolled into balls, mixed with boiling water to form a paste, or
as a pancake. It is often produced commercially in the form
of “pearls”. The sago industry is dominated by Indonesia,
Papua New Guinea, and Malaysia. The collective amount of
sago produced by these three countries is approximately 2.4
million hectares of total sago palms. Sago palm is also found
in Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines where they exist
in limited natural stands [2]. In Malaysia, most of the sago
for palm oil, but they still exist in Sarawak, a state in North-
Igan, and Balingan [3]. Currently, most sago factories in
Sarawak are built in the riverine areas for ease of transporta-
tion and waste management. The waste, i.e., sago pith waste
(SPW) is usually discharged into rivers which leads to river

13
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pollution [4]. The installation of pollution-control devices is
one of the best methods to solve this problem. SPW disposal
could cost about 20–50% of the total investment in a large-
scale factory [5].
Several studies have been conducted to resolve the
problems and to explore any other potential uses of SPW
as a new raw material. These include an investigation on
cadmium sorption characteristics of phosphorylated sago
starch-extraction residue [6], SPWs potential as a probe for
metal ion sensing [7], as well as its use as craft paper [8],
animal feed, compost for mushroom culture, and substrate
for local microbes for the production of reducing sugars and
enzyme [9]. A study by Quek et al. [10] on the usage of SPW
for the sorption of lead and copper is also one of the efforts
that have been done to minimize waste from the sago indus-
try. In addition, a study by Kadirvelu et al. [11] reported that
SPW could be utilized as an alternative low-cost adsorbent.
They found that SPW activated carbon was very effective in
removing Hg(II) from aqueous solutions and industrial efflu-
ents. Besides that, Zainab et al. [12] and Thangavelu et al.
[13], studied the use of SPW materials as fire-retardant or
sound-absorbing panels and as renewable sources of energy,
such as bioethanol, respectively.
However, a systematic investigation on the utilization of
SPWA generated during the conversion of SPW to energy
by burning is still lacking compared to investigations done
on other agricultural waste materials, such as rice husk ash
(RHA) [14, 15], sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) [16–18],
cassava bagasse ash (CBA) [19, 20], and palm oil fuel ash
Fig. 1  Physical appearances of SPW and SPWAs samples at different calcination temperatures; a SPW (wet), b SPW (dry), c SPWA 500 °C, d
SPWA 600 °C, e SPWA 700 °C, f SPWA 800 °C, g SPWA 900 °C, and h SPWA 1000 °C
13
J Mater Cycles Waste Manag
(POFA) [21–24]. To date, no reports on the detailed char-
acterizations of SPWA can be found. Based on the stud-
ies conducted on the ashes generated from other agricul-
tural wastes, there is a strong possibility that SPWA can
also be used as a new resource of renewable raw material,
especially for the fabrication of geopolymer products. The
quality of SPWA can be improved and its reactivities can
be enhanced via systematic calcination or heat treatment
process. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation is to
report the characteristics of SPW and SPWAs treated at vari-
ous calcination temperatures and, later, the development of
compressive strength of geopolymer utilizing fly ash (FA)
partially substituted with SPWA as a new alternative raw
material for geopolymer products.
Materials and methods
SPW and SPWA
The SPW (wet) (Fig. 1a) was collected from a sago starch-
extraction factory (River Link Sago Resources Sdn. Bhd.)
in Mukah, Sarawak, Malaysia. It was first sun-dried for
2 days before oven drying (SPW dry) (Fig. 1b) for 24 h at a
temperature of 105 °C using a Universal Oven, (UFE 800).
The dried SPW was calcined in an electric arc furnace (Gal-
lenkamp Muffle Furnace 1000) for 1 h with a heating rate
of 10 °C/min to obtain SPWAs at 6 different temperatures
(SPWA500C to SPWA1000C). The samples were allowed to
J Mater Cycles Waste Manag
cool before being taken out of the oven. The characterization
of SPWAs was initiated by analyzing the yield and physical
appearances of SPW and SPWAs with respect to the calcina-
tion temperatures. The quantitative chemical characteristic
analysis of SPWA was accomplished by X-ray fluorescence
(XRF) (Rigaku Rix 3000) followed with lost on ignition
(LOI) of the samples. The mineralogical phases present in
the SPWAs were identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) using
Bragg–Brentano Geometry diffractometer with CuKα radia-
tion (Bruker D8 Advance). The thermal characteristics of
the SPWAs were determined by thermogravimetric and dif-
ferential thermal analyses (TG/DTA) using Shimadzu DTG-
60H Differential Thermal Gravimetric Analyser. Fourier
transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of SPWA
samples were obtained using Spectrum 1 FTIR Spectrom-
eter (Perkin Elmer), while particle size distribution analysis
was determined using laser diffraction analyzer (Malvern
Masterizer E). The particle morphology of SPWA samples
were qualitatively determined with the aid of field-emission
scanning electron microscope (FESEM) using Zeiss Supra
35VP, incorporating energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDX).
SPWA geopolymer mortar
SPWA geopolymer mortar (GSPWA) was prepared using a
mixture of FA supplied by Lafarge Malaysia Berhad (Asso-
ciated Pan Malaysia Cement Sdn. Bhd.) and SPWA by per-
centage (0–40%) as a binder. The alkaline activators used
were a combination of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in pellet
form at 98% purity and sodium silicate (­ Na2SiO3) in liquid
form with a specific gravity of 2.13 g/cm3 at 20 °C. This
alkaline solution was prepared by dissolving NaOH pellets
and ­Na2SiO3 solution in water. The binder-to-activator ratio
was kept at 0.5 for all the mixes. Clean silica sand with a
maximum particle size of 1.18 mm sieve, fineness modulus
of 2.8, and specific gravity of 2.65 was used as fine aggre-
gate. The mixture proportions of the geopolymer samples are
given in Table 1. The variable studied in this investigation
is the substitution of FA with SPWA by percentage from
0% (GFA as a control) to 40% (GSPWA). Dry FA, SPWA,
and silica sand were mixed in a cake mixer for about 2 min
at low rates of speed to blend the source materials and the
Table 1  Mixture proportions of geopolymer samples
Mix order SPWA:FA SPWA content (g) FA content (g)
GFA 0:100 0 826.90
GSPWA10 10:90 82.70 744.20
GSPWA20 20:80 165.40 661.50
GSPWA30 30:70 248.10 578.80
GSPWA40 40:60 330.80 496.10
sand uniformly. The alkali activator solution was then gradu-
ally added into the mix and blended for about 7 min [25].
Additional water was added to the mix simultaneously with
the alkali activator to increase the workability as well as
homogeneity of the mortar. The mortar specimens were cast
in 50 mm cube steel moulds in three layers of equal height
and then compacted. The samples were vibrated to remove
entrained air and bubbles. Immediately after vibration, all
samples were covered and kept in the oven for hot curing
for 24 h at a temperature of 70 °C. The specimens were then
taken out of the oven and kept in ambient condition with
an average temperature and humidity of 28 °C and 70%,
respectively, until testing day. A compressive strength test
was done using ELE Auto Compressive Testing Machine
at a pace rate of 0.9 kN/s in accordance with ASTM: C109
[26]. The compressive strength of the specimens was tested
after 3, 7, 14, and 28 days, respectively.
Results and discussion
Figure 1 shows the physical appearances of SPW and SPWA
samples. Wet SPW was yellowish in color and transformed
into yellowish brown upon drying. When SPW was con-
verted to SPWA at their respective calcination temperatures,
the color of SPW progressively changed from yellowish
brown to dark grey. These changes are most likely due to
the increase in the amount of ­Fe2O3 together with the calci-
nation temperature, which can be seen in the XRF analysis
(Table 1). This inference can be made as, besides ­Fe2O3,
other oxides do not contribute much to the change in color
of the samples [27].
Table 1 shows the XRF results for both SPW and SPWA
samples. As the calcination temperatures increase, LOI of
the sample calcined at 1000 °C decreased from 95.35% in
SPW to 0.51% in SPWA. The main oxides present in SPW
and SPWAs calcined between 500 and 1000 °C, which were
­SiO2, CaO, MgO, and F ­ e2O3 with small amounts of ­K2O,
­Na2O, ­Al2O3, ­P2O5, SrO, and C. Due to the decrease in LOI
with increasing calcination temperatures, the percentages
of each oxide also increased; for example, the amount of
­SiO2 increased from 21.74% (SPWA 500 °C) to 35.13%
Fine aggregate (g) Na2SiO3 (g) NAOH (g) Water (g) Additional
water (g)
1240.30 295.30 38.20 79.90 62.00
1240.30 295.30 38.20 79.90 62.00
1240.30 295.30 38.20 79.90 62.00
1240.30 295.30 38.20 79.90 62.00
1240.30 295.30 38.20 79.90 62.00
13
 J Mater Cycles Waste Manag

(SPWA-1000 °C) and that of CaO from 16.79% (SPWA-
500 °C) to 26.94% (SPWA-1000 °C). However, ­K2O and
­Na2O responded to calcination temperature differently;
their quantities decreased as the calcination temperature
increased, most likely because the oxides tend to evaporate
at higher temperatures. The XRF analysis in Table 1 also
indicates that the CaO content of SPWA is higher compared
to other waste ashes. For example, palm oil fuel ash (POFA)
only has < 8% CaO [28, 29], slag mixtures have < 5% CaO
[30], fly ash has only < 2–4% CaO [31–33], and bottom ash
has < 11.4% CaO [34], while red mud and RHA have < 3%
CaO [35]. Similarly, the amount of ­SiO2 content in SPWA
was lower compared to that in other industrial waste ashes
such as FA which has 51.5% S ­ iO2 and 1.74% CaO [28] and
slag that has 34.58% S­ iO2 and 40.67% CaO [36]. Therefore,
the application of SPWA as a raw material for geopolymer
synthesis can be done by combining it with other ashes as
a supplementary material. Specifically, SPWA can be com-
pared to RHA (considered as a reactive source material rich
in silica) which contains a higher amount of S­ iO2 (91.93%)
[37]. RHA is still successfully used to synthesize geopoly-
mers as it is used to partially replace FA. The workability
and strength of the synthesized geopolymer mortars are
dependent on the percentage of FA and RHA used [37].
Similar findings were also discovered by Dara and Bhogay-
ata [38], and Shalini et al. [39], who found that replacement
of FA with RHA in small amounts as an additive in the pro-
duction of geopolymer concrete can enhance the concrete’s
mechanical strength and ductility.
Figure 2 shows the phase transformation of SPW when
calcined from 500 to 1000 °C. SPW is a completely amor-
phous phase, and when calcined at 500 °C, phases such
as calcite (­ CaCO3, ICDD no. 98-002-3938), quartz (­ SiO2,
ICDD no. 98-005-4692), and magnesite (­ MgCO3, ICDD no.
98-006-1859) were observed. These phases steadily reacted
with one another to form new phases such as wollastonite
[Ca(SiO3), ICDD no. 98-001-7684] and fayalite ­[Fe2(SiO4),
ICDD no. 98-002-2754] together with the transformation
of ­SiO2 crystals into cristobalite (­ SiO2, ICDD no. 98-006-
1837), especially at the calcination temperature range of
800–1000 °C. These results also prove that the major com-
positions of SPWA at calcination temperatures of less than
800 °C are quartz, calcite, and magnesite, which are in line
with the results obtained from XRF analysis (Table 2).

Fig. 2  XRD diffractograms of
SPW and SPWAs calcined from
500 to 1000 °C

Table 2  Composition of SPW, Sample code SiO2 CaO MgO C K2O Na2O Al2O3 P2O5 Fe2O3 SrO LOI
FA, and SPWA (wt%) by XRF
SPW 1.34 0.71 0.25 0.13 0.24 0.32 0.07 0.05 0.77 0.01 95.29
FLY ASH 50.03 5.14 1.40 8.03 1.34 0.21 23.54 1.04 6.44 0.55 2.28
SPWA-500 °C 21.74 16.79 7.65 0.75 6.54 6.98 0.81 1.10 1.80 0.32 21.30
SPWA-600 °C 21.86 17.13 8.84 0.78 5.41 6.14 0.80 1.27 4.89 0.34 18.50
SPWA-700 °C 22.95 18.29 9.27 0.80 3.86 4.70 0.99 1.36 6.06 0.37 17.51
SPWA-800 °C 32.32 24.52 11.12 0.81 2.18 2.44 1.03 1.64 6.80 0.48 7.2
SPWA-900 °C 34.43 25.79 12.72 0.83 1.11 1.87 1.36 2.06 6.91 0.52 3.92
SPWA-1000 °C 35.13 26.94 13.51 1.18 1.04 2.19 1.39 2.14 7.07 0.54 0.51

13
J Mater Cycles Waste Manag

Figure  3 shows DTA/TG for SPW and SPWAs Table 3  Yield of SPWA sample at different calcination conditions
(500–1000 °C). As shown in Fig. 3a, SPW experienced Sample Before cal- After calcined (g) % Yield
various changes when calcined up to 1000 °C. The first cined (kg)
change was at the vicinity of 50 °C where SPW started to
SPWA-500 °C 1 56.33 5.63
release moisture and other volatile compounds present in the
SPWA-600 °C 1 55.81 5.58
samples. Moreover, most of the carbonaceous compounds
SPWA-700 °C 1 53.92 5.39
burned between 200 and 400 °C with two exothermic DTA
SPWA-800 °C 1 52.58 5.26
peaks and great weight loss. It can be seen that the SPWA
SPWA-900 °C 1 41.22 4.12
samples became stable as the temperature reached 500 °C.
SPWA-1000 °C 1 39.84 3.98
These results were consistent until calcination temperatures
reached 1000 °C. Figure 3b–g shows the DTA/TG of SPWAs
with different calcination temperatures, which explain the
results of weight loss (by percentage) that are similar to the Figure 4 shows the FTIR spectra for SPW and SPWAs
results of LOI (Table 1). (calcined from 500 to 1000 °C). Four similar bonds exist
The differences of each SPWA sample with respect in both SPW and SPWAs; these include the H–O–H bond
to yield at various calcination temperatures are shown in at 3456  cm−1, O–H stretching at 1646  cm−1, carbonate
Table 3. The yield decreased with increasing calcination group at 1440  cm −1, and Si–O bending between bonds
temperatures and became constant (4%) as the calcination around 1039–1085  cm −1. These bands prove that the
temperatures went beyond 800 °C. Therefore, by simple cal- major compounds in SPW and SPWA are quartz and cal-
culation, the amount of SPWA generated by the calcination cite. Other small bands in SPW such as 2915 cm−1 (C–H
process is around 0.04 tonne for each tonne of SPW. stretch), 1248 cm−1 (C–O–C of carbonate soft segment) and

Fig. 3  TGA/DTA of SPW and SPWA materials under various calcination conditions; a SPW, b SPWA-500  °C, c SPWA-600  °C, d SPWA-
700 °C, e SPWA-800 °C, f SPWA-900 °C, and g SPWA-1000 °C

13
 J Mater Cycles Waste Manag

Fig. 4  FTIR spectra of SPW and SPWAs materials under calcinations process from 500 to 1000 °C

Table 4  Particle sizes of SPWAs under different burning conditions shape and size. This is due to the formation of phases such
as wollastonite, fayalite, and cristobalite.
Samples Dv10 (μm) Dv50 (μm) Dv90 (μm)
Based on the above analyses, SPWA can be considered as
SPWA-500 °C 5.50 63.8 196 a potential new resource of renewable raw material that can
SPWA-600 °C 6.76 64.3 206 be used in the fabrication of the traditional ceramic prod-
SPWA-700 °C 6.28 42.3 238 ucts. However, in this study, SPWA was specifically tested
SPWA-800 °C 6.65 44.1 181 as partial substitution of FA in geopolymer fabrication up to
SPWA-900 °C 6.28 31.3 149 40 wt%. The compressive strengths at the ages of 3, 7, 14,
SPWA-1000 °C 7.94 45.0 191 and 28 curing days are shown in Fig. 6. There is an obvious
effect on compressive strength when FA was partially sub-
stituted with SPWA. The strength initially increased (10 wt%
599 cm−1 (Si–O–Si) disappeared and produced new small SPWA, GSPWA10) and started to decrease with increasing
peaks at 799 cm−1 (Si–O bending), 713 cm−1 (calcite), and amounts of SPWA. The highest compressive strength (47 N/
between 473 and 481 cm−1 (Si–O–Si) in SPWAs. The peaks mm2) was obtained from GSPWA10 sample at 28 days. This
at 2511, 1803, and 877 cm−1 belong to the carbonate group, is about 5% higher compared to the pure FA geopolymer
mainly for calcite, which was only present in SPWA cal- (control sample). This proves that SPWA is a high reactive
cined from 500 to 800 °C [40–42]. The hydroxyl band at material and is as good as other waste materials such as
3648 cm−1 and the peaks at 678 and 644 cm−1 belonging to RHA, SCWA, SCBA, and POFA.
Si–O stretching can be seen as the calcination temperatures However, as SPWA increased > 20%, the compressive
increased from 800 to 1000 °C [43, 44]. The two peaks at strength of the geopolymer samples started to decrease. This
678 and 644 cm−1 prove the appearances of cristobalite as is due to the decreasing amount of ­Al2O3 originating from
also indicated by XRD analysis (Fig. 2) when SPW was FA, resulting in increased ­SiO2/Al2O3 ratio in the samples
calcined at higher temperatures. (Table 5). Therefore, the increasing ­SiO2/Al2O3 ratio con-
Particle size analyses using laser diffraction analyzer tributes to the decrease in compressive strength, since the
(Malvern Masterizer E) for all SPWA samples are shown amount of mullite (­ Al6Si2O13, ICDD no. 01-083-1881) for-
in Table 4. There is no specific trend for the average par- mation in the geopolymer also decreased. This is proven by
ticle size with respect to calcination temperatures. The the XRD analysis of samples which were cured for 28 days,
results of D v50 for 500  °C are around 63.8 μm and it as shown in Fig. 7. Al(OH)4−4 species in geopolymer samples
showed almost a 50% decrease when calcined at 900 °C. is an important factor for condensation purposes in these
This is related to various transformation states of samples materials as the Al component tends to dissolve easier than
as discussed in XRD, XRF, and FTIR analyses. The par- the silicon components; this enables a higher rate of conden-
ticle size observation can be further visualized from the sation between the silicate and aluminate species compared
FESEM analysis, as shown in Fig. 5, where the SPWAs to the condensation between just silicate species, resulting
reduced in size as the calcination temperature increased. in a higher initial compressive strength [28].
When the temperatures reached or > 900 °C, the parti- In addition, similar findings were made by Chindapra-
cle size increased due to the agglomeration and change in sirt et al. [45] through their study on the effects of alkali

13
J Mater Cycles Waste Manag

Fig. 5  SEM images of SPWA materials under calcination temperatures from 500 to 1000 °C

activator and RHA content on the strength of geopolymer

Fig. 6  Compressive strength of the geopolymer samples
mortar. They found that higher amounts of Si/Al ratios are
associated with lower strength and higher elasticity in geo-
polymers. At a certain level, an increased proportion of RHA
may result in a higher percentage of unreacted or partially
reacted RHA particles in the geopolymer system, making the
final geopolymeric products weaker and less ductile. Duxson
et al. [46] also reported that high Si/Al ratio and low A­ lO4
species in geopolymer formation result in strength reduc-
tion as this condition does not favour condensation of long-
chain polymeric structure; therefore, they act as defect sites
and exert a negative effect on the strength of geopolymeric
materials.
Therefore, this preliminary study indicates that there is
a potential usage of SPWA as a component in the fabrica-
tion of FA-based geopolymers similar to other agricultural
waste such as RHA, SCBA, CBA, and POFA. However, this
material needs to be further explored, especially for other

Table 5  Chemical composition Sample code SiO2 CaO MgO C K2O Na2O Al2O3 P2O5 Fe2O3 SiO2/Al2O3 LOI
of SPWA-700 °C, FA, GFA,
and GSPWA SPWA-700 °C 22.95 18.29 9.27 0.80 3.86 4.70 0.99 1.36 6.06 – 17.51
FLY ASH 50.03 5.14 1.40 8.03 1.34 0.21 23.54 1.04 6.44 2.13 2.28
GFA 60.13 3.69 0.52 3.34 1.21 3.61 18.63 0.63 3.91 3.23 2.68
GSPWA10 60.33 5.76 0.51 2.36 1.27 3.49 17.77 0.96 4.07 3.40 1.10
GSPWA20 59.39 7.57 0.68 2.42 2.24 3.82 15.24 0.94 3.88 3.90 1.58
GSPWA30 58.40 9.33 0.77 2.59 2.56 3.90 14.08 0.88 3.40 4.15 1.89
GSPWA40 55.80 11.54 0.94 3.61 2.64 4.22 11.82 0.84 3.23 4.72 2.75

13

Fig. 7  XRD diffractograms of
raw FA, SPWA 700 °C, GFA,
and GSPWAs samples
applications. The most important concern of the current
study is to find an alternative solution to the existing envi-
ronmental problem (water pollution) caused by SPW and
at the same time recognizing the generated SPWA as a new
potential resource of renewable material for other industries
such as ceramics and geopolymers.
Conclusion
The optimum calcination temperature for the production of
SPWA is around 700 °C with 0.04% yield. The SPWA is
mainly made up of C ­ aCO3 and S ­ iO2. The usage of SPWA
as a partial substitute for FA in geopolymer fabrication was
found to have increased the compressive strength develop-
ment by 5%. Hence, SPWA can be considered as an alterna-
tive raw material for various industries such as geopolymer
production. Further exploration of SPWA by blending it with
other waste products such as FA, slag, and POFA should be
done as a means to fully utilize SPWA, since the optimal use
of this agricultural waste will not only benefit the environ-
ment but other related industries, as well.
Acknowledgements  The authors would like to thank the financial
support from Universiti Sains Malaysia through the Research Uni-
versity Grant Scheme 001/PBAHAN/811212 and also the Universiti
Teknologi MARA (UiTM) academic staff scholarship (500-BPD
(JPbSM/BB. 14)). Special thanks to River Link Sago Resources Sdn.
Bhd. for providing the sago pith waste.
13
J Mater Cycles Waste Manag
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