Geopolymer eco-cellular concrete (GECC) based on fluid catalytic cracking catalyst residue (FCC) with addition of recycled aluminium foil powder

New eco-cellular concretes: sustainable and energy-efficient materials

“…In contrast with its natural density value, this mechanical behaviour represents a 34.1% reduction compared to the TCC system. These results do not agree with those reported by Font et al 18 in their previous research work where the geopolymer samples with FCC allowed the natural density to lower and yielded a compressive strength gain compared to the TCC systems. It could be attributed to the difference in the w/b ratio and to specimen dimensions.…”

“…FCC and BFS required a previous milling treatment to obtain a fine material to be used as a solid precursor 34,35 . As previously demonstrated 18 the method to incorporate RAF into the paste matrix to allow optimal reaction performance is done by blending RFA (previously reduced in small sheets: 35 mm long, 4 mm wide) in the FCC milling process. FCC and RAF sheets (0.2% wt%) were milled in a ball mill for 20 minutes to obtain a new raw material for cellular concrete manufacturing, which was designated as FCCRm (Table 1).…”

“…The use of BFS as a precursor to produce cellular concretes has been reported by Esmaily et al 7 where aluminium powder aeration was combined with the sodium lauril sulphate foaming effect. Besides, Font et al 18 have recently tested FCC as a precursor in cellular concrete aerated by using recycled aluminium foil. Both of these studies obtained excellent results thanks to their easy production and good performance without any autoclave curing process requirement.…”

“…Annually in Europe, close to 860000 tons of aluminium foil are produced, which represents a mean use of more than 26 m 2 per habitant 33 . The inclusion of recycled foil in the milling procedure of FCC has been recently tested by Font et al 18 to use it as a raw material in new geopolymer cellular concrete (GCC) manufacturing. These GCC offer several advantages over traditional OPC-based cellular concretes in terms of natural densities, air-void distribution and thermal conductivity.…”

“…In the geopolymer systems, the alkali activator solution parameters that determine the amount of NaOH and silica (WG in GCC or RHA in ECC) remained constant as follows: the Na + molality was 7.5 and the SiO 2 /Na2O molar ratio was 1.7. These parameters have been previously studied by Payá et al 37 and Bouzón et al, 23 and were applied to GCC based on FCC by Font et al 18 . The dosages for the samples based on BFS were maintained at the same proportions to make their physical and mechanical properties comparable, and in carbon footprint calculation terms.…”