TITLE:
Synthesis of Geopolymers Using Local Resources for Construction and Water Purification
AUTHORS:
Arwa Hamaideh, Bassam Al-Qarallah, Moshrik R. Hamdi, Saida Ali Abu Mallouh, Juma’a Khalil Al-Kafawein, Mazen Alshaaer
KEYWORDS:
Geopolymer, Zeolitic Tuff, Metakaolin, Water Purification, Construction Material, Heavy Metals, Jordan
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
Vol.6 No.5,
April
25,
2014
ABSTRACT: Large
deposits of impure kaolins exist in Jordan and many parts of the world;
geoplymers can reduce environmental impacts and have multi-application in many
fields, such as water purification, waste treatment, fire proof construction,
etc. The aim of this research is to investigate the use of alkali activated
zeolitic tuff and low purity metakaolin as precursors for the production of
functional geoplymers exhibiting proper mechanical properties and high
potential for water storage and decontamination of polluted solutions. The
results confirmed that this type of geopolymers showed superior mechanical
characteristics and higher adsorption capacity towards heavy metals such as
Cu(II) ions, which was similar to natural zeolite. X-ray diffraction analysis
showed that phillipsite, a major zeolite mineral, disappeared upon
geopolymerization, while scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that
geopolymers exhibit a porous matrix of nano-particles. The geopolymers have
also displayed high compressive strength and tensile bending strength of about
7.8 MPa and 45 MPa respectively, compared to reference geopolymers. This
functional-geopolymers indicate that they are efficient, cost effective and
have a potential for number of applications including construction, water
storage and wastewater treatment.