Influence of Waste Glass Powder as an Aluminosilicate Precursor in Synthesizing Ternary Blended Alkali-Activated Binder

The formation of alkali-activated binders from industrial end products and landfill materials attracts considerable interest in construction technology since it diminishes the waste products discarded into landfills. The impact of incorporating Waste Glass Powder (WGP) into Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) with Fly ash (FA) and Metakaolin (MK) on the workability and mechanical characteristics (Compressive, Split-Tensile, and Flexural strength) of a ternary blended geopolymer binders are investigated in this study. WGP was employed as the substitution for GGBS on the alkali-activated binder from 25 % to 40 % by total weight retaining the 10 % Fly ash and Metakaolin ratio. Sodium silicate solution and sodium hydroxide flakes were utilized in combination as the Reaction Generation Liquid (RGL). The fractions of sodium silicate solution to sodium hydroxide solution, RGL to binder ratio and the concentration of sodium hydroxide solution used in the study were considered as 2.5, 0.55 and 8 Molarity, respectively. The effect of varying combinations of WGP (25 % - 40 %) under ambient curing conditions on the workability and mechanical properties of the ternary mixture geopolymer binders were evaluated, and the optimum mix proportions were proposed. The maximum compressive (59.21 MPa), split-tensile (6.60 MPa), and flexural strength (5.70 MPa) results were obtained with a mixture of 55 % GGBS, 35 % WGP, and 10 % MK in an 8 M NaOH solution. The prosed work emphasizes the viability of incorporating optimum substitution levels of WGP (35 %) in developing sustainable ternary based geopolymer concrete by facilitating a long time resolution for the efficient exploitation of uninhibited glass wastes. The microstructural and mineralogical characterization of the geopolymer sample obtained using SEM-EDX and XRD techniques illustrated the presence of sodium aluminate silicate hydrate (N-A-S-H) gel and calcium aluminate silicate hydrate (C-A-S-H) gels as the end reaction product.