Utilization of mineral wools in production of alkali activated materials: Fid-Bau Portal

Utilization of mineral wools in production of alkali activated materials

Mastali, Mohammad / Zahra, Abdollahnejad / Hugo, Kerbrat / Faraz, Rahim

Highlights • The type of co-binder indicated the maximum impact on the mechanical strength. • MK can be as an appropriate co-binder to enhance strength and uniformity of materials. • Sand to binder ratio of 1 provided the optimal sand content in the mortars. • RW has a great impact on leaching pH variations and discoloration of distilled water. • The developed alkali activated mineral wool-based materials have low porosity.

Abstract One of the main available sidestreams, which is recently used in the construction industry and received great attention is mineral wools. In this paper, the mineral wools are comprised of combined rock wool (RW) with glass wool (GW). The main novelty of this study was to use a combination of RW and GW to develop mineral wool-based mortars using alkali activation process. This investigation was carried out in three different stages to clarify the effects of different parameters on the mechanical strength, microstructural investigation, and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure. The studied differential parameters were comprised of using different co-binders (metakaolin (MK) or ladle slag (LS)), using different alkali activator properties, different contents of RW and GW, and different sand contents. The results showed that MK provided higher mechanical strength and uniformity than LS as a co-binder in alkali activated mineral wool-based binders. Moreover, it was revealed that the content of RW or GW had a key role in the mechanical strength, microstructural and mineralogical analysis, and leaching behavior of heavy metals.