Applied Clay Science 47 (2010) 271–275

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Clay Science

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / c l a y

Composition design and microstructural characterization of calcined kaolin-based

geopolymer cement
Zhang Yunsheng a,⁎, Sun Wei a, Li Zongjin b
a
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Construction Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, China
b
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear water Bay, Kowloon, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A three key parameters (SiO2/Al2O3, M2O/Al2O3 and H2O/M2O, M denotes Na or K) composition design
Received 9 October 2009 method was firstly proposed based on chemical characteristics analysis of calcined kaolin-based geopolymer
Received in revised form 29 October 2009 cement. A total of 9 Na-poly-sialate-disiloxo (Na-PSDS) geopolymer cement pastes with different mole ratio
Accepted 6 November 2009
of SiO2/Al2O3, Na2O/Al2O3, H2O/Na2O were designated to investigate the influence of the three key ratios on
Available online 24 November 2009
mechanical properties and microstructure in accordance with orthogonal design. The results showed that the
ratios Na2O/Al2O3 and H2O/Na2O had significant effect on compressive strength. The highest compressive
Keywords:
Composition design
strength (34.9 MPa) was achieved at SiO2/Al2O3 = 5.5, Na2O/Al2O3 = 1.0 and H2O/Na2O = 7.0. Comparing the
Calcined kaolin IR spectra of the 9 pastes also indicated that cement with the highest strength was the most fully reacted one
Geopolymer cement and possessed the largest amount of geopolymers. The microscopic analysis revealed that the fully reacted
Na-PSDS cement possessed structural characteristics similar to gel substances in having a wide range of Si
endowments, but the framework of SiO4 tetrahedra partially replaced by 4-coordinated Al.
© 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction merits make geopolymers promising potentials in the fields of civil,

Recent years have seen a great development in a novel family of
building materials—geopolymer cement around the world. Geopolymer
cement is a type of three-dimensional CaO-free aluminosilicate binder,
which was developed by J. Davidovits in the late 1970s (Davidovits,
1988). Geopolymer cement can be synthesized by mixing calcined
kaolin and strongly alkaline solutions (such as NaOH or KOH), then
curing at room temperature. Under a strongly alkaline solution, calcined
kaolin is rapidly dissolved to form free SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedral units.
With the development of reaction, water is gradually split out and the
SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedral units are linked alternatively to yield three
types of geopolymer products: poly-sialate [–SiO4–AlO4–] (PS type),
poly-sialate-siloxo [–SiO4–AlO4–SiO4–] (PSS type), or poly-sialate-
disiloxo [–SiO4–AlO4–SiO4–SiO4–] (PSDS type) by sharing all oxygen
atoms between two tetrahedral units (Davidovits, 1989). Compared
to Portland cement, geopolymer requires less energy consumption,
has less CO2 emission, high early strength, less shrinkage, low
permeability, good fire and acid resistance and excellent durability
(Davidovits, 1988, 1989; Davidovits et al., 1990; Duxson et al., 2007;
Hongling et al., 2005; Nowak, 2008; Sofi et al., 2007; Van Jaarsveld
and Van Deventer, 1999; Bakharev, 2005; Lyon et al., 1997) These
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 25 52090640; fax: +86 25 52090667.
E-mail address: zhangys279@163.com (Z. Yunsheng).
bridge, pavement, hydraulic, underground and militia engineering
(Davidovits, 1994a).
Geopolymer cement is different from Portland cement. However,
very little scientific literature is available on the subject until now,
which seriously influence the commercial development and applica-
tion of geopolymer cement. In this study, a three key parameters
composition design method was proposed based on the chemical
characteristics analysis of geopolymer cement. Taking Na-PSDS
geopolymer cement as an example, a total of 9 geopolymer cement
pastes were designated to investigate the influence of the three key
ratios on mechanical properties and microstructure in accordance
with orthogonal design. The compressive strength and microstructure
of the hardened cement pastes were evaluated as a function of the
three ratios. The influencing extent of each ratio on the compressive
strength was quantitatively determined on basis of the gradation
analysis. The microstructural changes as a function of ratios were also
investigated by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
technique. Based on the macroscopic and microscopic experiments,
almost fully reacted geopolymer cements with the highest strength
and optimum microstructure could be obtained by properly adjusting
the three mole ratios. Subsequently, the coordination status of two
main construction elements (Al and Si), micrographics and chemical
compositions of the fully reacted Na-PSDS geopolymer cement were
examined by X-ray Diffraction Analysis (XRD), Environment Scanning
Electron Microscope equipped with Energy Dispersion X-ray Analysis
(ESEM-EDXA), highly sensitive Magic Angle Spinning-Nuclear Mag-
netic Resonance Spectroscopy (MAS-NMR) techniques.

0169-1317/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.clay.2009.11.002
272 Z. Yunsheng et al. / Applied Clay Science 47 (2010) 271–275
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
Kaolin from China Kaolin Clay Company, Su Zhou, P.R. China, was
calcined at 700 °C for 12 h. NaOH and sodium silicate solution with
the mole ratio of SiO2/Na2O of 3.2 and a solid content of 37% were used
as alkaline reagents. The silicon content was increased by the addition
of fumed silica with 95% or higher SiO2 content to compensate for
the shortage of silicon in calcined kaolin. Distilled water was used
throughout the experiments.
2.2. Specimen preparation
NaOH, sodium silicate solution and water were mixed in a beaker
and cooled down to room temperature. Then calcined kaolin and silica
were slowly added and mixed for 3 min. The fresh cement was rapidly
poured into cubic steel moulds of 40 mm by 40 mm by 40 mm. All
samples were vibrated for 2 min on the vibration table. In order to
prevent the evaporation of water, the specimens were covered with
plastic films during the setting and hardening process. The mould was
removed after 24 h. The demoulded specimens were cured at 20 °C
and 95% R.H for 28 days. At least 6 specimens were made for each
formulation.
The fragments after compressive tests were collected and used for
ESEM-EDXA analysis. Other samples were further finely crushed, and
immersed in an ethanol for 3 days to stop polymerisation reaction,
then oven-dried at 60 °C for 6 h. These hardened geopolymer paste
pieces were further ground to very fine particles with an agate mortar.
The coarse particles were removed with the sieve of 80 µm in
diameter and stored in desiccators for 24 h.
2.3. Methods
Compressive tests were performed according ASTM C39-96. Six
samples of each formulation were tested and the average data were
reported. A closed-loop servo-hydraulically controlled materials
testing machine (Sintech 10/D MTS 810) was used for the measure-
ments. The loading was displacement-controlled at a constant rate of
1.3 mm/min for all the tests.
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was performed
with A Bio-Rad FTS 6000 FTIR by using KBr pellets.
X-ray powder patterns were recorded on Philips PW1830 (para-
meters: 40KV, 30 mA, CuKα radiation, scanning rate of 1° per min
from 10° to 80°(2θ), and steps of 0.05(2θ)°).
XL30-ESEM equipped with EDXA was used to reveal the micro-
structure and chemical compositions of geopolymer cement (accel-
erating voltage 20 keV, pressure and relative humidity in sample
chamber 560 Pa and R.H. 80%).
For the MAS-NMR measurements, a JEOL NM-ESH40MU Nuclear
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) was used. The spinning
speed of the capsule was 4.8 kHz. 29Si and 27Al spectra were measured
and recorded at 29Si NMR frequency of 79.3 MHz and 27Al frequency of
72.18 MHz. Chemical shifts were referenced to tetramethyl orthosi-
licate in CDCl3 for the 29Si nuclei and to aqueous AlCl3 for the 27Al
nuclei. Typically, 29Si spectra were obtained over a spectra width of
50.0 kHz (acquisition time = 0.04 s), with 8192 scans and a relaxation
delay of 1.5 s. The 27Al spectra were acquired over a spectra width
of 41.67 kHz (acquisition time = 0.04 s), with 2048 scans and a
relaxation delay of 0.5 s.
For X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), an XPS instrument
(Model PHI5600, Physical Electronics) was used. The C1s and Al2p XPS
spectra were measured using the unmonochromated Mg K line at
1253.6 eV (15 kV,350 W). Peak intensity was measured at intervals of
0.05 eV and a pass energy of 11.75 eV. The measured binding energy
was corrected to the C1s peak (binding energy of 285.0 eV) of carbon.
3. Composition design of the calcined kaolin-based geopolymer
cement
3.1. Chemical composition characteristics of geopolymer cement
Al2O3 and SiO2 are the main components of geopolymer cement.
The mole ratio of Si to Al directly determines the molecular
configuration types of the products: PS type at Si/Al = 2, PSS type at
Si/Al = 4, or PSDS type at Si/Al = 6. There are obvious differences
amongst different types of geopolymer cements: good thermal
insulation for PS; high strength and good toxic wastes solidification
for PSS; excellent fire-resistance and high bonding for PSDS
(Davidovits, 1988, 1989). Thus, the mole ratio of Si to Al is one very
key parameter for the synthesis of geopolymer.
The alkaline activator is another important parameter during the
synthesis of geopolymer cement. Alumino-silicate raw materials are
dissolved at alkaline conditions. In addition, alkali cations (Na+, K+ )
must be present in the cavities of geopolymer network to balance the
negative charge of Al3+ in IV-fold coordination. One mole IV-fold
coordinated Al3+ requires 1/2 mol M2O (M denotes Na, or K) for
electrical neutrality. Thus, the M2O content greatly influences the rate
and extent of the polymerisation reaction and the stabilization of the
final products.
Water is also very important one during the synthesis of geo-
polymer cement. In the geopolymerisation reaction, water acts as ions
transportation medium, is also needed for the structure molecular
chains. In addition, water is required to obtain good flowability for
fresh geopolymer cement.
3.2. Compositions design
Based on the above analysis, the three mole ratios SiO2/Al2O3, M2O/
Al2O3, and H2O/M2O control the synthesis of geopolymer cements.
Thus, a method called three key parameters composition design has to
be developed. The detailed procedure is described as follows:
Firstly, the type of geopolymer cements was selected before
synthesis: PS type, PSS type or PSDS type.
Secondly, the theoretical values of the three key parameters were
calculated according to naturally occurring rocks with similar
chemical compositions. The chemical formulation and the theoretical
values of the three key parameters for different types of geopolymers
were listed in Table 1.
Finally, considering the variation in the chemical composition of
the raw materials, the three key mole ratios were slightly adjusted in
certain range around the theoretical values: for SiO2/Al2O3 = theoretical
value ±0.5; M2O/Al2O3 = theoretical value ±0.2; For H2O/M2O, small
amounts of water as possible were selected to ensure high mechanical
strength and excellent durability.
4. Preparation of the calcined kaolin-based geopolymer cements
In this study, a total of 9 geopolymer cement pastes were
designated to investigate the influence of the three key ratios: SiO2/
Al2O3 (Factor A), Na2O/Al2O3 (Factor B) and H2O/Na2O (Factor C). The
three mole ratios were varied: 5.5 ≤ SiO2/Al2O3 ≤ 6.5, 0.8 ≤ Na2O/
Table 1
Chemical formulation and the theoretical values of PS, PSS and PSDS geopolymer
cements.
Types of Theoretical Theoretical values
geopolymer formulation
n(SiO2)/ n(M2O)/ n(H2O)/
n(Al2O3) n(Al2O3) n(M2O)
PS M2Si2Al2O8·(6–7)H2O 2.0 1.0 6–7
PSS M2Si4Al2O12·(2–3)H2O 4.0 1.0 2–3
PSDS M2Si6Al2O16·2H2O 6.0 1.0 2
 Z. Yunsheng et al. / Applied Clay Science 47 (2010) 271–275 273

Al2O3 ≤ 1.2, 7.0 ≤ H2O/Na2O ≤ 10. The levels for each of the factors
were set at three grades (low, intermediate, and high). The
experimental program corresponded to three-factor-experiments
with three levels of each factor. Based on the factor-level, a total of
9 formulations were designed according to a L9(34) orthogonal design
principle (Table 2).

4.1. Compressive strength

The compressive strength of each formulation was given in

Table 2. The influences of the three mole ratios (SiO2/Al2O3, Na2O/
Al2O3, and H2O/Na2O) were quantitatively determined by using the
gradation analysis. It could be seen from Table 2 that the Na2O/Al2O3
and H2O/Na2O showed a very important impact on the compressive
strength of the harden cement pastes. The corresponding gradation
ranges were 16.7 and 16.2, respectively. Comparatively, the SiO2/
Al2O3 had little influence on the compressive strength, whose
gradation range was 9.5. Comparing II 2̅ , III ̅3 revealed that the
hardened cement had the highest compressive strength at Na2O/ Fig. 1. IR spectra of geopolymer of different formulations.
Al2O3 = 1.0, H2O/Na2O = 7.0. Due to negligible influence of SiO2/
Al2O3, a low level of SiO2/Al2O3 = 5.5 was employed to reduce the (2) The intensities of the bands at 914 and 798 cm− 1 in IR
amount of expensive silica. As a results, the optimum formulation of spectrum of calcined kaolin related to stretching vibration of
Na-PSDS cement on the basis of the compressive strength was 6 fold coordinated Al(VI)–OH and 6 fold coordinated Al(VI)–O,
reached at SiO2/Al2O3 = 5.5, Na2O/Al2O3 = 1.0 and H2O/Na2O = 7.0, respectively, were considerably reduced or disappeared after
i.e. formulation (Na-PSDS2). polymerisation. A similar trend was also found for the Si–O
symmetrically stretching band at about 697 cm− 1. This showed
4.2. FTIR analysis that 6-coordinated Al(VI) changed into 4-coordinated one, and
participate in the framework structure.
The IR spectra of various geopolymer cement pastes were pre- (3) A weak band at around 840 cm− 1 was observed in some
sented in Fig. 1. The main IR bands and corresponding species were geopolymer mixtures. The band was not found in the IR spectrum
assigned as described before (Valeria et al., 2000; Akolekar et al., 1997). of calcined kaolin. It was assigned to the bending vibration of Si–
OH. The presence of Si–OH will cause a decrease in the degree of
(1) The strong band at 1086 cm− 1 in the IR spectrum of calcined
condensation, thus a reduction in mechanical strength.
kaolin shifted by about 78 cm− 1 towards lower wavenumbers
after polymerisation reaction of geopolymer cement. The shift
Based on the above analysis of IR spectra, we could assume that
indicated a formation of new products different from calcined
during the polymerisation reaction, SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedra was
kaolin. This was also indicated by the XRD patterns (Fig. 2).
released from the surface of calcined kaolin particles under the attack of
According to the references (Valeria et al., 2000; Akolekar
the strongly alkaline solution. The 6 fold coordinated Al found in the
et al., 1997), the 1086 cm− 1 band was caused by the Si–O
calcined kaolin was also transformed from VI into IV. As the dissolution
vibration. The large shift towards lower wavenumbers might
proceeds, more and more SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedra went into the
be attributed to the partial replacement of SiO4 tetrahedra by
alkaline solution. After undergoing structural reorientation the SiO4 and
AlO4 tetrahedra, resulting in a change in the local chemical
AlO4 tetrahedra produced polycondensation reaction, thus a formation
environment of Si–O bond. The intense but broadened feature
of geopolymer products with a framework structure. It was the
of 1006 cm− 1 band was indicative of the general disorder in
connecting of AlO4 (IV) tetrahedra with SiO4 that changes the original
the Si(Al)–O– network, reflecting the wide distribution of the
Si–O chemical environment. When the formulation was not designed
SiQn(mAl) units in the geopolymer product network.
properly, incomplete poycondensation reaction produces silanol groups
in the framework structure. Na-PSDS2 had a prominent band at
1006 cm− 1, characteristic of geopolymer products. The Si–OH bending
Table 2 band at 840 cm− 1 was not seen. Na-PSDS2 was the optimum one among
The experimental program and the compressive strength of Na-PSDS pastes.

No. SiO2/ Na2O/ H2O/ Compressive

Al2O3 Al2O3 Na2O strength (MPa)

Na-PSDS1 1(5.5) 1(0.8) 1(8.5) 6.0

Na-PSDS2 1(5.5) 2(1.0) 2(7.0) 34.9
Na-PSDS3 1(5.5) 3(1.2) 3(10) 0.8
Na-PSDS4 2(6.0) 1(0.8) 2(7.0) 5.4
Na-PSDS5 2(6.0) 2(1.0) 3(10) 13.6
Na-PSDS6 2(6.0) 3(1.2) 1(8.5) 13.9
Na-PSDS7 3(6.5) 1(0.8) 3(10) 8.6
Na-PSDS8 3(6.5) 2(1.0) 1(8.5) 21.7
Na-PSDS9 3(6.5) 3(1.2) 2(7.0) 31.2
Gradation analysis I1 41.7 20.0 41.6
II2 32.9 70.2 71.5
III3 61.5 45.9 23
-
I1 13.9 6.7 13.9
II1̅ 11.0 23.4 23.8
III̅3 20.5 15.3 7.7
Range 9.5 16.7 16.2
Fig. 2. XRD spectra of calcined kaolin and geopolymers.
274 Z. Yunsheng et al. / Applied Clay Science 47 (2010) 271–275

the 9 formulations. The hydration degree of Na-PSDS2 was the largest

and the compressive strength was the highest.
The above macroscopic and microscopic results revealed that an
almost fully reacted Na-PSDS geopolymer could be obtain at the mole
ratio SiO2/Al2O3 = 5.5, Na2O/Al2O3 = 1.0 and H2O/Na2O = 7.0, i.e.
formulation Na-PSDS2.

5. Microstructural characteristics

5.1. XRD analysis

The XRD pattern showed that a large diffuse halo at about

20–40°(2θmaxCuKα) diffractogram for the fully reacted cement,
i.e. Na-PSDS2 (Fig. 2). This indicates that Na-PSDS products were
mainly X-ray amorphous consisting of randomly orientated Si–Al
tetrahedra.

5.2. ESEM-EDXA
Fig. 4. 27Al MAS-NMR spectra of geopolymers.

Fig. 3 shows ESEM micrograph of the sponge-like hardened Na-

PSDS. Crystals with regular shape were not observed. EDXA was also
performed on the whole region shown in the above ESEM micrograph
to determine its chemical composition after polymerisation reaction.
Great cautions should be taken due to the large volume of the
electronic interacting sphere at 20 kV accelerating voltage. The oxide
revealed the mole ratios SiO2/Al2O3 = 6.3 and Na2O/Al2O3 = 1.1,
respectively, which were close to the theoretical values (SiO2/
Al2O3 = 6.0, Na2O/Al2O3 = 1.0).
5.3. MAS-NMR analysis
5.3.1. 27Al MAS-NMR
Earlier investigations (Pu et al., 1984; Davidovits, 1994b) showed
that resonances for 4-coordinated Al (with respect to oxygen) in
aluminate anions at 60–80 ppm, and in aluminosilicates at 50–20 ppm,
and while 6-coordinated Al resonates at 0–10 ppm for [Al(H2O)6]3+.
The 27Al MAS-NMR spectrum of fully reacted Na-PSDS (Fig. 4)
showed that there was a predominant resonance at 40 ppm assigned
to 4-coordinated Al of AlQ4(4Si) (Davidovits, 1988). A small peak at
−15.6 ppm was assigned to the 6-coordinated Al caused by traces of
kaolin in calcined kaolin due to uncompleted calcination. The absence
of other resonance excludes residual singular building units of low
molecular mass such as AlQ4(0Si), AlQ4(1Si) and AlQ4(2Si). Thus, Na-
PSDS products mainly consist of a three-dimensional aluminosilicate
network with polymeric building units.
Although 27Al MAS-NMR is a powerful tool in determining the
coordination environment of Al, it cannot differentiate the various
molecular configurations proposed for geopolymer cements: PS, PSS
29
or PSS. This differentiation can be achieved by using Si MAS-NMR
spectroscopy.
5.3.2. 29Si MAS-NMR
Na-PSDS showed a broad resonance in the range of −70 ppm to
−110 ppm associated with a very strong resonance at − 90.8 ppm
and two small peaks at −84.5 ppm and − 102.6 ppm (Fig. 5). Broad
resonances were generally found in zeolitic gels before crystallization
of the zeolites. The 29Si broad resonances indicate that the Si and Al
tetrahedras in Na-PSDS were not regularly oriented.
A previous study has shown that the chemical shift of 29Si in an
amorphous or highly disordered state in geopolymer cement would
increase by approximately 5 ppm when compared with the zeolite of
the same chemical compositions (Davidovits, 1988, 1989). Resonances
in the 29Si MAS-NMR spectrum of Na-PSDS, namely − 84.5 ppm,
−90.8 ppm and − 102.6 ppm, can be assigned to SiQ4(3Al), SiQ4(2Al)
and SiQ4(4Si) units(Davidovits, 1988).
5.4. XPS analysis
Changes in binding energies of Si2p and Al2p were observed
before and after the polymerisation reaction. The Al2p binding energy
at 74.88 eV for calcined kaolin shifted towards 74.54 eV after reaction
(Fig. 6(a)). The shift was approximately 0.34 eV. A similar trend was
also seen in Si2p binding energy (Fig. 6(b)). This binding energy
reduction might be attributed to changes in the molecular

Fig. 5. 29Si MAS-NMR spectrum and the corresponding deconvolution spectra of

Fig. 3. ESEM micrograph of geopolymers. geopolymers.
 Z. Yunsheng et al. / Applied Clay Science 47 (2010) 271–275
Fig. 6. Binding energies of ( a) Al2p; ( b) Si(2 p) for calcined kaolin and geopolymers.
configuration during the geopolymerisation reaction. Sheet-like
configuration for calcined kaolin converted into a three-dimensional
network as confirmed by the MAS-NMR spectra. According to Kinger
et al. (1976), the configuration changes increased the ratios Al/O, Si/O
and Ob/Onb (Ob denotes bridging oxygen, Onb denotes non-bridging
oxygen), and electron cloud density on the valence electron shell of Si
and Al atom. Consequently, Al2p and Si2p binding energies were
reduced.
6. Conclusions
The influence of the three key parameters SiO2/Al2O3, M2O/Al2O3,
H2O/M2O on the synthesis of calcined kaolin-based geopolymer cement
275
was systematically investigated. A total of 9 cement pastes with
different mole ratios SiO2/Al2O3, Na2O/Al2O3, H2O/Na2O were designat-
ed to investigate the effects on mechanical strength and microstructure
in accordance with an orthogonal design. The gradation analysis of
experimental results revealed that Na2O/Al2O3 and H2O/Na2O had sig-
nificant impact on the compressive strength. The highest compressive
strength (34.9 MPa) was achieved at SiO2/Al2O3 = 5.5, Na2O/Al2O3 = 1.0
and H2O/Na2O = 7.0. This formulation was regarded as fully reacted
geopolymer cement. Microscopic analysis showed that structural
characteristics similar to gels with a network formed by SiO4 and AlO4
tetrahedra.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from
Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-08-
0116), 973 Program (2009CB623200), China National Natural Science
Foundation (50702014) and Outstanding Young Teacher's Teaching
and Researching Plan from Southeast University.
References
Akolekar, D., Chaffee, A., Russell, F.H., 1997. The transformation of kaolin to low-silica
X zeolite. Zeolites 19 (5), 356–365.
Bakharev, T., 2005. Resistance of geopolymer materials to acid attack. Cem. Concr. Res.
35 (4), 658–670.
Davidovits, J., 1988. Geopolymer chemistry and properties. In: Davidovits, J., Orlinsl, J.
(Eds.), Proceedings of the First European Conference on Soft Mineralogy. The
geopolymer Institute, Compiegne, pp. 25–48.
Davidovits, J., 1989. Geopolymers and geopolymer new materials. J. Therm. Anal. 35 (2),
429–444.
Davidovits, J., Douglas, C.C., John, H.P., Douglas, J.R., 1990. Geopolymer concretes for
environmental protection. Concr. Int.: Des. Constr. 12 (7), 30–40.
Davidovits, J., 1994a. High alkali cements for 21st century concretes. In: Mehta, P.K.
(Ed.), Concrete technology, past, present, and future. American Concrete Institute,
Detroit, pp. 383–397.
Davidovits, J., 1994b. Geopolymers: man-made rock geosynthesis and resulting
development of very early high strength cement. J. Mater. Educ. 16 (2&3), 91–139.
Duxson, P., Provis, J.L., Lukey, G.C., 2007. The role of inorganic polymer technology in the
development of green concrete. Cem. Concr. Res. 37 (12), 1590–1597.
Hongling, W., Haihong, L., Fengyuan, Y., 2005. Synthesis and mechanical properties of
metakaolinite-based geopolymer. Colloid Surf. A. 268 (1–3), 1–6.
Kinger, W.D., Bowen, H.K., Uhlmann, D.R., 1976. Introduction to ceramic. John Wiley &
Sons Int, New York.
Lyon, R.E., Foden, A., Balaguru, P.N., Davidovits, M., Davidovits, J., 1997. Fire-resistant
aluminosilicate composites. J. Fire Mater. 21 (2), 67–73.
Nowak, R., 2008. Geopolymer concrete opens to reduce CO2 emissions. The New Sci.
197 (2640), 28–29.
Pu, W., Zhaolu, P., Lingbao, W., 1984. Mineralogy. China Geological Press, Beijing.
Sofi, M., van Deventer, J.S.J., Mendis, P.A., 2007. Engineering properties of inorganic
polymer concretes (IPCs). Cem. Concr. Res. 37 (2), 251–257.
Valeria, F.F.B., Keneneth, J.D.M., Clelio, T., 2000. Synthesis and characterization of
materials based on inorganic polymers of alumina and silica: sodium polysialate
polymers. Int. J. Inorg. Mater. 2 (4), 309–317.
Van Jaarsveld, J.G.S., Van Deventer, J.S.J., 1999. The potential use of geopolymer materials
to immobilize toxic metals: Part I. Theory and applications. Miner. Eng. 10 (7),
659–669.