Effect of Alkali Activator on Preparation, and Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Iron Mine Tailing-Based Lightweight Materials

Abstract

Lightweight materials applied in construction field were prepared using waste iron mine tailings (WIMT) as raw materials, the commercial silicate cement (CSC) as cementing agent, NaOH as the alkali activator, and triethanolamine lauryl sulfate (TLS) as foaming agent via foam-gelcasting method. The effects of water/cement (W/C) mass ratio (0.6-1.0), addition of NaOH (0-0.15wt%) and foaming agent (0-0.3vol%) on the porosity, bulk density, and mechanical properties of the iron mine tailing-based lightweight materials were studied. The results showed that the mechanical properties of iron mine tailing-based lightweight materials were improved by adding NaOH, the as-prepared materials had a 7-day compressive strength of 5.18 MPa, porosity of 51.40%, bulk density of 1.73 g/cm3and thermal conductivity of 0.193 W・(m-1K-1) when the W/C ratio was 0.8, the mass ratio of WIMT/CSC/NaOH 1.85:1:0.15, and foaming agent content 0.3vol%.

Quarry Waste as Precursors in Geopolymers for Civil Engineering Applications: A Decade in Review

“…The authors stated that the produced bricks met ASTM and Australian standard requirements set for bricks. In addition to geopolymer bricks, the possibility of producing lightweight aggregates using iron ore and foam-gel casting technique was investigated [85]. The behavior of iron ore tailing geopolymer samples exposed to different heat-cooling cycles of up to 800 • C was monitored [86].…”