Experimental Investigation on Effective Utilization of Alkaline Activator Solution in Developing Sustainable Geopolymer Composites

This study investigated the effective use of Alkaline Activator Solution (AAS) in the production of ecologically friendly sustainable geopolymer composites. In order to improve the mechanical characteristics and longevity of geopolymer composites, research focusses on optimizing the concentration and mix of AAS, namely Sodium Hydroxide (SH) and Sodium Silicate (SS). The workability and mechanical qualities are significantly influenced by the amount of time left after combining SH and SS. A series of experiments were performed to assess the impact of including activator molarity, the ratio of SS and SH, and the duration post-mixing of SH and SS, on consistency, setting time, compressive strength, and microstructural development. The findings demonstrated that an increase in SH molarity correlates with a reduction in flowability and setting time. The compressive strength of the geopolymer combination increases by 46 percent as the molarity of the SH increases from 8 to 14 after which it begins to decrease. In addition, a rise in the ratio of SS to SH results in an improvement in compressive strength. Compressive strength decreases when the SS/ SH ratio grows, especially at 10M, for larger SH concentrations. The mechanical and rheological characteristics are affected by the SH/SS ratio as well. The workability and reactivity of the mix were affected by the amount of time that passes after combining SH and SS. By examining all the aforementioned factors, a clearer insight into the optimized use of the AAS can be achieved.