Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Preparation and characterization of lightweight aggregate foamed

geopolymer concretes aerated using hydrogen peroxide
Jinyan Shi a,b, Baoju Liu b, Yuanchun Liu a,⇑, Enliang Wang a, Zhihai He c, Huijie Xu a, Xiaodong Ren a
a
School of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, PR China
b
School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, PR China
c
School of Civil Engineering, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing 312000, PR China

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t

Production of aerated lightweight

foamed geopolymer concretes using
H2O2 was investigated.

The effects of different components
on the properties and microstructure
of LFGC were investigated.

The expansion properties of foamed
geopolymer concretes were tested.

The EPS particles have good
compatibility with the foamed
geopolymer pastes.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this study, novel green lightweight foamed geopolymer concretes (LFGC) aerated using hydrogen per-
Received 6 March 2020 oxide based on fly ash, metakaolin and expanded polystyrene (EPS) particles was developed for thermal
Received in revised form 1 May 2020 insulation materials. Physical properties, mechanical strength, thermal characteristics and permeability
Accepted 3 May 2020
of LFGC were evaluated by designing and optimizing the components of EPS particles, hydrogen peroxide,
metakaolin and fly ash. Meanwhile, the internal microstructure was also investigated by pore structure
and scanning electron microscope. The results show that as the content of EPS particles and hydrogen
Keywords:
peroxide increased, the compressive strength of LFGC decreased by 57.6% and 9.7%, respectively. The
Lightweight foamed geopolymer
Expanded polystyrene
lightweight and thermal insulation properties are enhanced as the EPS particles and hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide content increase due to the contribution of low-density EPS particles and closed foamed air voids. The
Thermal insulation LFGC presented its dry density range of 300–650 kg/m3, the compressive strength between 2.0 and
Microstructure 5.5 MPa and the thermal conductivity between 0.122 and 0.195 W/m∙K, showing better mechanical
strength than the traditional ordinary cement foamed concrete with the same density. Meanwhile, the
microstructure also shows that the EPS particles have good compatibility with the foamed geopolymer
pastes.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction [1,2]. The density of foamed concrete is usually 10–50% of normal-

Foamed cement-based materials as a lightweight porous mate-
rial are widely used as thermal insulation components in the world
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: jinyan.shi@csu.edu.cn (J. Shi), yuanchun_liu@126.com (Y. Liu).
weight concrete, which effectively reduces the structural weight,
the building energy consumption, the amounts of fillers and binder
used, the construction time and the labor costs in handling or
transportation [1–4]. In addition, compared to foamed organic
insulation materials, the advantages of the foamed cement-based
materials application are its high mechanical strength, high shock

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.119442
0950-0618/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 J. Shi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442
resistance, high fire resistance, environmentally friendly, and good
durability performance [5–7]. Nowadays, a large number of prod-
ucts (such as non-structural elements, building partitions, road
substrates, sandwich plate cores, and energy absorbing or cushion-
ing systems, etc.) made from Portland cement-based foamed con-
cretes have been widely used in many engineering construction
fields [8]. In order to produce a more environmentally friendly
foamed concrete composite, foam is introduced into the geopoly-
mer matrix. Compared with Portland cement-based foamed con-
cretes, geopolymer-based foamed concrete not only uses solid
waste as raw materials to reduce production energy consumption
and carbon dioxide emissions, but also has excellent early-age per-
formance, high mechanical properties, good long-term service, and
durability performance (acids and fire resistance) [9–12]. In addi-
tion, the geopolymer foams will also provide a better binding
matrix for the uptake of wastes such as waste glass [13,14].
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) particles is a lightweight thermo-
plastic with low thermal conductivity, low cost, and high durability
[15]. In order to improve the recycling rate of EPS particles, EPS
particles are widely used in cement-based materials, especially in
inorganic thermal insulation materials [16]. A large number of
studies have shown that EPS particle is detrimental to the mechan-
ical properties of Portland cement concrete, and it is necessary to
use highly active mineral admixtures and surfactants to improve
the characteristics of the interface transition zone (ITZ) [16,17].
Meanwhile, EPS particles do not perform well in ordinary concrete,
such as increasing the risk of shrinkage, creep, and cracking
[18,19]. However, the addition of EPS particles into lightweight
thermal insulation concrete is beneficial to show its low thermal
conductivity and low-density characteristics. Brooks et al. [20]
found that EPS is more suitable to produce the cement-based
materials for non-loadbearing insulation elements than other
types of lightweight filler materials, such as expandable thermo-
plastic microsphere, hollow glass microspheres, and fly ash ceno-
spheres. Chen et al. [21] incorporated EPS particles to foamed
(animal protein-based foaming agent) concrete, and found that
the synergistic effect of EPS and foam can improve the workability,
mechanical properties, and thermal conductivity of concrete. Shi
et al. [22] added EPS particles to chemical foamed concrete, and
found that EPS and foamed matrix have good compatibility and
can produce foamed concrete with thermal conductivity between
0.0704 and 0.0767 W/(mK). Colangelo et al. [23] mixed EPS with
alkali-activated metakaolin (MK) pastes to prepare EPS geopoly-
mer concrete with a density between 500 and 900 kg/m3, and used
microstructure to prove that EPS particles and geopolymer pastes
are well bonded without delamination and segregation. Therefore,
in order to obtain a green lightweight insulation material, attention
should be paid to the development of low-density EPS foamed
geopolymer concrete in the design of thermal insulation materials.
After reviewing the previously published results, it is reason-
able to conclude that the study on foamed geopolymer concrete
mixed with EPS particles for thermal insulation usage is scant.
Moreover, expansion properties and microstructure of foamed
geopolymer concrete mixed with EPS particles were not investi-
gated in most of the previously published literatures. The expan-
sion properties and water permeability of lightweight inorganic
insulation materials derived from foamed geopolymer concrete
aerated using hydrogen peroxide are not well-known, and little
information is available about lightweight foamed geopolymer
based on MK/fly ash (FA) and EPS particles. In this study, the EPS
foamed geopolymer concrete, whose density between 300 and
650 kg/m3, was prepared by incorporating hydrogen peroxide as
gas-releasing agents into matrix composed of MK and FA. EPS par-
ticles was used as lightweight aggregate to develop lightweight
inorganic insulation materials suitable for non-structures mem-
bers. Meanwhile, it provides a recyclable way for the application
of EPS in new sustainable materials. This research comprehen-
sively determined the effect of different components on the perfor-
mance of lightweight foamed geopolymer concrete (LFGC) from
the aspects of fresh properties, mechanical strength, thermal char-
acteristics and capillary water absorption (CWA), and the internal
microstructure was also investigated by pore structure and scan-
ning electron microscope (SEM).
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
The aluminosilicate materials used include MK and class F FA.
MK had the specific surface area of 16800 m2/kg. FA had the den-
sity of 2.10 g/cm3, which was provided by Rongchangsheng
(Henan) manufactory, and its specific surface area was 410 m2/
kg. The chemical composition of the aluminosilicate materials is
shown in Table 1. The sodium hydroxide was chemically pure
(96% purity), which was obtained from TianJing DaMao Chemical
Reagent Factory, China. The liquid sodium silicate had a concentra-
tion of 3.3 M, the SiO2/Na2O ratio of 3.19 and its solid content was
34%, which was provided by Yosuo Reagent Store, China. The con-
centration of hydrogen peroxide solution used was 30% (wt%),
which was employed as foaming agent (gas-releasing agent). The
calcium stearate was used as foam stabilizer to control air foams
structures and dimensions. Both of them were obtained from
TianJing DaMao. EPS particles with a size of 2 to 4 mm was
employed as lightweight aggregate, and its apparent density and
thermal conductivity was 1.88 g/cm3 and 0.0313 W/(mK), respec-
tively. In addition, the typical microstructure of EPS is shown in
Fig. 1.
2.2. Mix proportions
The mix proportions of foamed concrete for investigating the
effect of aluminosilicate materials type, foaming agent content
and EPS content on the performance are presented in Table 2.
The ratio (by weight) of MK to solid (MK + FA) was mixed from
0.1 to 0.5 to prepare the aluminosilicate materials. The proportion
of calcium stearate in mix proportions was fixed at 1.5, and the
percentages of H2O2 and EPS are changed.
2.3. Specimens preparation
The eight foamed concrete mixtures were prepared according to
the following steps. GMK3 was a control group obtained by adjust-
ing of foamed concrete. Liquid sodium silicate and sodium hydrox-
ide were mixed in proportion to make an alkali liquid solution,
which was cooled at room temperature for 12 h. Meanwhile, FA,
MK, and calcium stearate were mixed evenly at room temperature.
Then, the alkali liquid solution and H2O2 were poured into mortar
mixer to stir for 60 s at low speed and rapidly stir for another 120 s.
Finally, EPS particles were added and the mixtures mixed for a fur-
ther 60 s. Fresh concrete was poured into plastic molds of different
sizes and placed at room temperature for 2 h. After that, the excess
pastes were removed, specimen was sealed with plastic film. The
foamed concrete was demolded after 24 h and then cured at room
temperature till 28 days. The detailed preparation process of LFGC
specimens is illustrated in Fig. 2.
 J. Shi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442 3

Table 1
Chemical composition of the aluminosilicate materials (%).

Material Mass fraction w/%

SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 Na2O
FA 58 30 4.3 1.5 2.8 0.40 1.8
MK 47.99 44.73 0.522 0.42 0.046 0.0798 0.215

foamed concrete in this paper. A cylinder with a height and a diam-

eter of 5 cm was used to test the volume expansion. The fresh mix-
ture, which occupies 1/2 of the mold volume, was poured into the
mold. Meanwhile, the mixture expanded freely at room tempera-
ture (20 ± 1 °C and 65 ± 2 RH%) and the time it took to reach the
2/3 height of the mold was recorded. The time ratio taken between
the experimental group and the control group (GMK3) is defined as
the relative expansion rate. In addition, when the difference
between the two test values is less than 0.02 cm, the final expan-
sion height of the mixture was also recorded.

3.3. Density, porosity and water absorption

The specimen after the expansion test was used to measure the
wet density, which was measured by dividing the mass by the vol-
ume. Water absorption was investigated on foamed concrete for
28 days according to ASTM C796 (2012) and test details were pro-
vided in a previous work by Liu et al [29–31]. After immersing in
water for 24 h, the specimen was placed in an oven at 60 °C for
48 h. The dried mass was used to calculate the dry density. The dif-
Fig. 1. SEM image of the EPS particle.
ference between the dry and wet mass of a specimen gives the
amount of water absorbed. In addition, the water absorption
3. Test methods
porosity was evaluated by the volume ratio of water to the
specimen.
3.1. Setting time and flow

Fresh properties of foamed concrete were measured by testing
the initial fluidity and setting time. The initial setting times of
foamed concrete were examined with a Vicat instrument according
to BS EN 196-3:2005 [24]. The flowability of mixtures were inves-
tigated with a standard flow cone [25], and the mean value of three
testing results was took for the fluidity.
3.2. Expansion of mixtures
The expansion deformation of foamed concrete before harden-
ing has an important influence on its internal pore structure and
long-term performance. Hydrogen peroxide decomposes into
water and oxygen in an alkaline environment, which is an exother-
mic reaction. Meanwhile, decomposition rate of hydrogen peroxide
depends on self-concentration, reaction temperature, sodium
hydroxide content, and geopolymerization reaction rate [26,27].
Various expansion indicators were used to characterize the expan-
sion of foamed concrete [28]. The expansion height and relative
expansion rate were used to measure the volume deformation of
3.4. Mechanical properties
The mechanical properties measured in this paper refers to flex-
ural strength and compressive strength at 28 days. Three speci-
mens with a size of 160  40  40 mm was used for the flexural
strength test according to ASTM C348. Six specimens were exam-
ined for the test of compressive strength with a loading rate of
0.6 kN/s.
3.5. Thermal characteristics
Thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, and thermal diffu-
sivity of foamed concrete were determined by ISOMET 2114 porta-
ble thermal characterization analyzer as shown in Fig. 3. ISOMET
2114 was widely used to test the thermophysical properties of
cement-based materials [32,33]. ISOMET 2114 can also test ther-
mal characteristics with a surface probes by means of a modified
transient pulse method in a short time. When the foamed concrete
was in thermal equilibrium with the surrounding environment,
heat flow was generated by applying heat impulse to obtain the

Table 2
Mix proportions of foamed concrete samples (kg/m3).

MIX ID Solid m(MK)/m(FA + MK) Calcium stearate Sodium silicate NaOH H2O2 EPS
GMK1 350.2 0.1 1.5 255 55 5.3 16
GMK3 350.2 0.3 1.5 255 55 5.3 16
GMK5 350.2 0.5 1.5 255 55 5.3 16
GHO10 350.2 0.3 1.5 255 55 10.6 16
GHO2 350.2 0.3 1.5 255 55 2.65 16
GE23 350.2 0.3 1.5 255 55 5.3 23.6
GE8 350.2 0.3 1.5 255 55 5.3 8.4
GE4 350.2 0.3 1.5 255 55 5.3 4
4 J. Shi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442
Fig. 2. The preparation of LFGC incorporating EPS particles.
Fig. 3. The ISOMET 2114 portable thermal characterization analyzer.
thermal characteristics of the specimen [34,35]. ISOMET 2114 can
adapt to wide test and temperatures ranges with high measure-
ment accuracy. A cube specimen with a side length of 100 mm
was used to test the thermophysical properties in this paper. In
order to exclude the effect of surface heterogeneity on the test
results, the sanded side surface was used for testing. Three speci-
mens were used to test the thermal characteristics. The probe
was placed in the center of the specimen and two opposite surfaces
of each specimen were used for the test. In addition, each surface
was tested three times.
3.6. Capillary water absorption test
CWA test was used to investigate the permeability of the LFGC
specimen, which was measured according to the experimental
details in ASTM C 1585 and [36,37]. The CWA tests of LFGC speci-
men were determined on three specimens at 28 days. As concluded
in previous studies, the CWA can be expressed by the square root
of time, as follows:
i ¼ A þ St1=2 ð1Þ
in which, i is the cumulative volume of water absorption per unit
area, mm; A is the area of inflow surface, mm2; S is the sorptivity
coefficient, which can be obtained from the slope of the fitted curve
based on Eq. (1), mm/min1/2; t is the elapsed time, min.
3.7. Pore structure
Image processing technology was widely used to extract the
pore structure of cement-based materials [38,39]. When the ther-
mal characteristics test was completed, the specimen was cut from
the middle, and the cut surface was polished with sand paper. The
cross sections image was acquired after the dust was removed.
Meanwhile, image processing software (Image-Pro Plus) was used
to analyze parameters of foamed concrete, such as the porosity and
pore distribution. A typical image captured during the image pro-
cessing process is shown in Fig. 4.
3.8. Microstructure
The cubes were cut from the middle by hand saw, and SEM
samples with the size of 10  10  10 mm were made from the
center section of cubes and immersed in isopropanol for more than
7 days. Before SEM test, the specimen was vacuum dried for one
week. The specimens were observed by FEI quanta-200 SEM in sec-
ondary electronic mode after carbon-coating process. The test
details of SEM can be found in the References [40,41].
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Setting time and flow
Setting time is particularly important for the performance of
LFGC, which controls the expansion time of the pastes. If the paste
 J. Shi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442 5

Fig. 4. Some typical image captured during the image processing.

sets and geopolymerizes too quickly, it will cause a low bubble

generation rate and affect the thermal insulation performance of
LFGC. If the setting time is too long, the skeleton of geopolymer
is not strong, which may cause bubbles to burst, and even the spec-
imen to collapse. Therefore, the consistency of aeration and hard-
ening is crucial for fresh LFGC. The initial setting time and
fluidity values of different LFGC samples are shown in Fig. 4. With
the increase of MK substitution rate, the setting time of fresh LFGC
decreased from 112.7 to 83.7 min. Because MK has higher activity,
it will accelerate the setting and hardening process of fresh LFGC
composites. In addition, the results also show that adding a certain
amount of FA can prevent the rapid setting of fresh LFGC, and give
the mixture enough time to mix and place. Meanwhile, the reduc-
tion of hydrogen peroxide content will also reduce the setting time
of LFGC. Too much hydrogen peroxide will decompose continu-
ously during the setting of the pastes, destroying the formation
of the microstructure, thereby prolonging the setting time of
geopolymer. With the decrease of the EPS content, the content of
pastes continuously increases, and the setting time of LFGC is pro-
longed by a large amount of paste.
Fig. 5. Initial setting time and fluidity of LFGC samples.
Fluidity is also important for LFGC. Too high fluidity of the
pastes will lead to low-density EPS particles to the upper layer of
the mixture, which is obviously detrimental to the performance
of the LFGC specimen. The fluidity of mixture is 10–19 cm in the
different geopolymer mixes as shown in Fig. 5. The more FA
replaced by MK, the faster the reaction rate of the aluminosilicate
materials and the lower the fluidity. In addition, MK is composed of
plate-like particles and different from FA with glassy spherical par-
ticles. Therefore, too much MK will reduce the flow of fresh LFGC,
because MK needs more liquid to wet the surface and the inter-
layer of plate-like particles [42]. Meanwhile, the bubbles generated
by the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide have a ball-like effect
in the pastes, which can increase the flowability of fresh LFGC. In
addition, the fluidity of LFGC increases with EPS particles decrease.

4.2. Expansion of mixtures

The expansion height and relative expansions ratio of LFGC

samples are presented in Fig. 6. Fresh LFGC mixtures going to
expand due to the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide.
Theoretically, the expansion degree of mixtures will increase as
the hydrogen peroxide content increases. Meanwhile, when the
Fig. 6. Expansion height and relative expansions ratio of LFGC samples.
content of hydrogen peroxide doubles, the amount of oxygen pro-
duced will also double according to the chemical equation. How-
ever, the amount of expansion is not linearly related to the ated gas is entrapped in fresh LFGC, or some bubbles are broken,
content of hydrogen peroxide. This means that not all the gener- or not all hydrogen peroxide is decomposed to the same degree.
6 J. Shi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442

Meanwhile, fresh LFGC still has obvious difference of expansion at

identical hydrogen peroxide contents, and the relationship
between geopolymer components and expansion is more compli-
cated due to some changes in the properties of the fresh LFGC.
Changes in geopolymer composition directly affect its setting time,
pH, pastes consistency, and reaction temperature. The decomposi-
tion rate of hydrogen peroxide increases with increasing of tem-
perature and pH [26,43], the viscosity of fresh LFGC controls the
formation process of bubbles [44], and the initial setting time is
closely related to the duration of the expansion. It can be seen from
Fig. 5 that the addition of MK makes the expansion of the mixtures
more severe, which is related to the accelerated reaction rate of the
paste by MK and more heat release. The GHO10 group has the most
hydrogen peroxide and therefore has a high expansion value.
When the hydrogen peroxide content is held constant, with the
increase of EPS particles, the expansion degree of fresh LFGC weak-
ens, this result is shown in Fig. 7. This is mainly due to the reduc-
tion of pastes content, and the ITZ between EPS particles and
pastes provides a channel for gas loss.

4.3. Density, porosity, and water absorption Fig. 8. Density of LFGC samples with different geopolymer components.

Nowadays, researchers are trying various methods to reduce

the density of foamed concrete to achieve its functionalization.
The density change of the geopolymer is shown in Fig. 8. Density
is tested as a basic property in this study. The dry density and
wet density have similar changes law. The dry density of LFGC
specimens is between 331 and 615 kg/m3. Compared with the
insulation materials prepared by other authors in recent years
[5,21,45–47], due to the combined contribution of bubbles made
of hydrogen peroxide and low density of EPS particles, the LFGC
has a lower dry density. Meanwhile, the density of LFGC does not
change significantly with m(MK)/m(FA + MK), but decreases signif-
icantly with the increase of hydrogen peroxide and EPS particle
content. However, it is worth noting that the density of the speci-
men (GHO10) is basically similar to that of the control group
(GMK3). This may be due to the high amounts of hydrogen perox-
ide, the low concentration of the pastes which cannot prevent the
escape of oxygen, and collapse of bubbles due to merging.
Similarly, with the EPS particles decrease, the rate of decrease in
dry density of LFGC slows significantly. When there are many
EPS particles, a small amount of pastes is not enough to wrap all
the air bubbles, and some of the air bubbles decompose and escape
from the ITZ. In addition, the density of LFGC is a function of the
expansion ratio and capillary porosity of the pastes. Generally,
the density decreases as the expansion ratio increases. As the
hydrogen peroxide content increases, not only does the expansion
ratio change, but the unit mass of the solid pastes decreases as the
capillary porosity increases. LFGC is developed as a lightweight
exterior wall insulation material. Lower density tends to mean
lower thermal conductivity, thereby contributing to improving
the thermal insulation capacity of building exterior walls.
The water absorption and porosity of geopolymer at 28 days are
shown in Fig. 9. The specimens with difference m(MK)/m(FA + MK)
have similar water absorption. However, hydrogen peroxide can

Fig. 7. Expansion of fresh LFGC samples with different proportions at 180 min after casting.
 J. Shi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442 7

significantly increase the water absorption of the specimen. For

low-density foamed concrete, the water absorption of the speci-
men increases significantly with decreasing density [48]. This is
related to the capillary porosity, which is positively correlated as
shown in Fig. 9(b). In addition, the specimen (GHO2) showed the
smallest porosity and water absorption, which indicates that ade-
quate pastes and a small amount of hydrogen peroxide can form
a large number of closed pore structures in the LFGC composite.
Although GE23 has a lower density, its water absorption is not
high. Because the decrease in density is mainly contributed by
EPS particles, and the amount of water absorption is mainly the
contribution of geopolymer pastes, EPS particles that are
hydrophobic under normal pressure will not absorb too much
water.

4.4. Mechanical properties

The effect of geopolymer components on the mechanical prop-

erties of LFGC is shown in Fig. 10. With the increase of m(MK)/m
(FA + MK) ratio from 0.1 to 0.5, the mechanical properties of LFGC
Fig. 10. The 28-day flexural and compressive strengths of LFGC samples.
increased significantly. The compressive strength of geopolymer
specimen with the m(MK)/m(FA + MK) ratio of 0.5 is 4.45 MPa,
which is 1.39 times higher than those of the ratio of GMK1 speci- 2.4 MPa, and a compressive strength between 3.4 and 5.4 MPa.
men. FA has lower activity compared to MK due to its high degree Meanwhile, the mechanical properties of LFGC specimen increase
of polymerization of SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedra. The tetrahedrons of with the increase of dry density. This is related to the total internal
SiO4 and AlO4 in FA are difficult to be activated and dissolved by gas content. Adding EPS to alkali-activated foamed concrete is one
the alkali liquid solution in the initial stage of the polymerization of the innovations in this study. Although EPS particles will reduce
reaction, so it will affect the later polymerization reaction to pro- the mechanical properties of LFGC due to its high compressibility
duce stress and structural inhomogeneity, which makes the and low strength, and formation of wider ITZ [9,11], it is lighter
mechanical properties of LFGC lower [9]. MK can make up for the than other lightweight thermal insulation materials still have high
shortcomings of FA in the early reaction, increase the reaction rate strength [2,9,48].
and shorten the hardening process, thereby improving the internal
structural stability of LFGC and preventing the oxygen from wan-
4.5. Capillary water absorption
tonly spreading in the fresh pastes [9,42]. In addition, with the
increase of MK, the pore diameter of the specimen also becomes
Water permeability is particularly important for foamed con-
smaller [9]. The increase of hydrogen peroxide will reduce the
crete. When water enters into the specimen, the thermal insulation
mechanical properties of foamed concrete, and this reduction is
performance of foamed concrete will decrease rapidly. CWA can
more significant in flexural strength. When the amount of hydro-
reflect the water absorption rate of the specimen under normal
gen peroxide increases 4 times, the compressive strength of LFGC
pressure, which is closely related to its internal porosity. With
specimen is relatively reduced by 9.69%, and the flexural strength
the addition of highly active MK, the internal compactness of LFGC
is relatively reduced by 31.14%.
improves and the pore structure is improved [9]. Meanwhile, the
As can be seen in Fig. 11, the LFGC specimens with a dry density
amount of water absorbed per unit area decreases, and the sorptiv-
of 331–615 kg/m3, which has a flexural strength between 1.2 and
ity coefficient of the specimen decreases, as shown in Fig. 12. Sam-
ple GHO2 has the smallest sorptivity coefficient, which indicates

Fig. 9. Water absorption and porosity of LFGC samples at 28 days. Fig. 11. Variation of 28-day mechanical properties of LFGC with dry density.
8 J. Shi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442

Fig. 12. The CWA and sorptivity coefficient of LFGC samples at 28 days.

that proper hydrogen peroxide did not significantly increase the
content of connected pores in the LFGC composites. EPS particles
as organic materials have significant hydrophobicity. Although
EPS particles cause a weaker ITZ, the sorptivity coefficient
increases with decreasing EPS content. This indicates that the con-
nected pores in the pastes are the main channels for water pene-
tration under the action of capillary tension in the CWA test.
However, the hydrophobicity of EPS makes the effect of ITZ on
the sorptivity coefficient not obvious.
4.6. Thermal properties
The thermophysical characteristics of LFGC with different mix
proportions, including thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity,
and thermal diffusion coefficient are shown in Fig. 13. Thermal
conductivity represents the ability of a LFGC to conduct heat
through its body under stationary conditions of heat transfer. It
can be seen from Fig. 13(a) that the influence of the m(MK)/m
(FA + MK) ratio on the thermal conductivity of LFGC is limited.
As the MK content increases, the internal porosity of the LFGC
decreases and the thermal conductivity increases. With the
increase of hydrogen peroxide, the capillary and air voids increase,
and the thermal conductivity of the LFGC decreases. However, too
much hydrogen peroxide will cause gas to escape, and its benefits
cannot be fully exerted. EPS particles with low density and low
thermal conductivity can effectively reduce the thermal conductiv-
ity of LFGC. However, the excessive EPS particles did not continue
to reduce the thermal conductivity of the LFGC specimens due to
the limitation of internal structural stability.
Specific heat capacity is a measure of the energy required to
raise the temperature per unit mass of a LFGC by 1 °C. In addition,
the thermal diffusivity is a function of thermal conductivity and
volumetric heat capacity. It is possible to produce LFGC with a
dry density of 331–615 kg/m3, a thermal conductivity of 0.122–
0.195 W/m∙K, a thermal diffusivity of 0.280–0.435  106 m2/s,
and a specific heat capacity of 0.199–0.628  106J/M3K. Specific
heat capacity is an inherent property of a material. As the pastes
content increases, the specific heat capacity of LFGC increases.

Fig. 13. Thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, and thermal diffusivity of LFGC samples at 28 days.
 J. Shi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442 9

Generally, the specific heat capacity increases with increasing den- lapse and merge into larger pores, which are mainly concentrated
sity because the specific heat capacity of a solid phase is greater in 2.00–4.00 mm. It is difficult to introduce foams into the geopoly-
than that of a gas phase. mer paste containing EPS particles. The synergistic effect between
the EPS particles and the bubbles generated by the decomposition
of hydrogen peroxide cannot be ignored. In the geopolymer paste,
4.7. Pore structure
the ITZ between the EPS particles and the paste will also provide a
channel for the flow of gas, which will add to the collapse and coa-
The pore structure of foamed concrete directly determines its
lescence of the bubbles. Therefore, the specimen (GHO10) has a
mechanical properties and thermal insulation properties. Fig. 14
larger pore frequency in 2.00–4.00 mm.
shows the pore distribution of the LFGC mixes at 28 days. Most
Generally, it is feasible to add EPS particles to geopolymer aer-
of the pores size of LFGC are mainly distributed in 0.30–1.40 and
ated using hydrogen peroxide. It can be seen from the optical
1.60–4.00 mm. With the increase of MK substitution rate, the pore
micrograph (Fig. 15) that EPS particles are uniformly distributed
content with the pore size larger than 4.50 mm decreases. Com-
in the geopolymer matrix without obvious aggregation. In addi-
pared with sample GMK1, GMK5 has a significantly finer pore
tion, the specimen has a compact structure without obvious cracks.
structure. Most of the air voids in LFGC come from the decomposi-
The 28-day total porosity of LFGC with different mix proportions is
tion of hydrogen peroxide, so most of the pores have a regular
shown in Fig. 16. Highly active MK will reduce the porosity of the
sphere shape and only negligible number of pores in the LFGC is
LFGC specimen, as studied by Wu et al. [9]. In addition, too much
irregular as shown in Fig. 15. It can be seen from Fig. 14 that a high
EPS will reduce the flowability of fresh LFGC, which is detrimental
content of hydrogen peroxide will significantly increase the pore
to its compactness development. At the same time, the ITZ caused
content inside the specimen, and some of the air bubbles will col-

Fig. 14. Pore distribution of LFGC samples at 28 days.

10 J. Shi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442

Fig. 15. Effect of hydrogen peroxide content on the internal structure of LFGC samples (Optical micrograph).

by the incorporate of EPS is also a defect that cannot be ignored,

and this part of the defect is also included in the pores in image
processing.

4.8. Microstructure

The LFGC is a novel green insulating material, its SEM image and
internal structure is shown in Fig. 17. The EPS aggregate is bonded
together by the geopolymer components as shown in Fig. 17(a).
There is an effective bond between the EPS particles and the
geopolymer matrix, and a large amount of geopolymer pastes is
bonded on its surface as shown in Fig. 17(b). This shows that the
EPS particles and the foamed geopolymer components have good
compatibility without adding any surfactant. Some large-sized air
voids appearing in Fig. 17(a) are generated by the decomposition
of hydrogen peroxide, and the pore walls are dense (as seen
Fig. 17c). An appropriate amount of MK can increase the reaction
rate, leaving oxygen inside the pastes, and a large amount of
silica-alumina gel is visible in Fig. 17(d). The geopolymer pastes
provides stiffness to the LFGC, while EPS particles and closed air
Fig. 16. The 28-day porosity of LFGC samples with different geopolymer
components. voids contribute to its thermal insulation properties.
The microstructure of the geopolymer matrix is shown in
Fig. 18, its degree of compactness is directly related to the mechan-

Fig. 17. Internal microstructure of LFGC samples.

 J. Shi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442 11

Fig. 18. SEM photos of LFGC samples at 28 days of curing.

Fig. 19. SEM photos of ITZ of geopolymer pastes and EPS particles.

ical properties and thermal insulation properties of LFGC. Some
spherical air voids can be seen everywhere in Fig. 18(GMK1), which
is beneficial to reduce the matrix density and thermal conductivity.
As increase of MK substitution rate, the geopolymer matrix
becomes denser and less porous. A large number of air voids
appeared in GHO10 sample, which is caused by the decomposition
of excessive hydrogen peroxide. However, the shape and connec-
tivity of these air voids have changed. Excessive hydrogen peroxide
caused bubbles to merge and the pore connectivity increased.
Some air voids with a diameter greater than 50 mm are visible in
GHO10 sample, even some pores with a diameter greater than
100 mm. In addition, the geopolymer specimens with a small
amount of EPS particles have a relatively dense microstructure
(GE4), while an excessive amount of EPS particles will reduce the
fluidity of the pastes and make the microstructure loose (GE23).
In order to investigate the microstructure and bonding charac-
teristics between geopolymer pastes and EPS particles, SEM analy-
sis is investigated in Fig. 19 to observe the ITZ between geopolymer
matrix and EPS particles. When m(MK)/m(FA + MK) = 1:2, EPS par-
ticles have a relatively good binding force with the geopolymer
matrix, and ITZ is relatively dense. From the microstructure of
the GHO10 sample, it can be seen that the excess hydrogen perox-
ide is not only reflected in the pore structure of the matrix, but also
apparently in ITZ. Some air voids appear on the ITZ, making it more
12 J. Shi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 256 (2020) 119442
degraded, which is detrimental to the mechanical properties of
LFGC (GHO10). Meanwhile, when there is too much EPS, the
geopolymer pastes is not enough to completely wrap the EPS par-
ticles, making the ITZ wider. In addition, this can also be proved on
the attachments on the surface of the EPS particles, with a rougher
and thicker pastes covering the surfaces of the EPS particles on the
specimens GE8 and GE4.
5. Conclusions
This work reveals the feasibility of using EPS particles and
geopolymer foam to prepare formed concrete for the use of exte-
rior building walls insulation. A novel lightweight foamed geopoly-
mer concretes aerated using hydrogen peroxide was developed in
this study. The physical, mechanical properties, thermal character-
istics, water permeability, pore structure, and microstructure of
LFGC were investigated through various testing methods. The fol-
lowing conclusions were reached:
1. A green LFGC with its thermal conductivity of 0.122–0.195 W/
m∙K was successfully prepared by incorporating the EPS parti-
cles into the foamed matrix based on MK-FA geopolymer aer-
ated using hydrogen peroxide. The LFGC made in this study
are suitable for use in the exterior building walls insulation
materials.
2. The microstructure of LFGC using FA alone as the aluminosili-
cate material is relatively loose, which is caused by the low
activity of the FA. MK can significantly improve the microstruc-
ture inside the geopolymer, reduce the pore diameter and
porosity in the matrix, increase the compactness of ITZ, and
thereby improving the mechanical properties of LFGC.
3. Hydrogen peroxide decomposition causes expansion of fresh
foamed geopolymer. The degree of expansion of a fresh foamed
geopolymer directly affects its microstructure formation and
properties after hardening. Too much hydrogen peroxide will
cause a large expansion of the fresh pastes, which will reduce
the mechanical properties and microstructure compactness of
LFGC, and increase the porosity and pore diameter. In addition,
excessive hydrogen peroxide will cause bubbles to collapse and
merge, increasing pore connectivity.
4. EPS particles can be uniformly dispersed in the geopolymer
matrix, and can be well wrapped by the pastes, thereby reduc-
ing the density and thermal conductivity of LFGC. As the EPS
content increases, the dry density of LFGC decreases from 650
to 300 kg/m3, and the compressive strength decreases from
5.5 to 2.0 MPa.
5. LFGC specimen has a good microstructure, EPS particles and
foamed geopolymer pastes have good compatibility. The syner-
gistic effect of EPS particles and closed bubbles can well reduce
the thermal conductivity of LFGC. Although this study system-
atically investigated the effects of different components on
the properties and microstructure of LFGC, the explanation of
some problems still needs further study. Therefore, further
study will be carried on in order to reveal the influence of the
pH value, viscosity and water content of the mixture on its pore
structure and the synergistic effect of EPS particles and closed
bubbles.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Jinyan Shi: Formal analysis, Writing - original draft. Baoju Liu:
Conceptualization, Writing - review & editing. Yuanchun Liu:
Funding acquisition, Writing - review & editing. Enliang Wang:
Methodology, Validation. Zhihai He: Investigation, Validation.
Huijie Xu: Validation, Visualization. Xiaodong Ren: Investigation,
Validation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
This work was jointly supported by Applied Technology
Research and Development Plan of Heilongjiang Province
(GZ16B010, GZ16B020) and Heilongjiang Postdoctoral Financial
Assistance (LBH-Z13045).
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