One-part alkali activated cement based volcanic pumice: Fid-Bau Portal

One-part alkali activated cement based volcanic pumice

Almalkawi, Areej T. / Hamadna, Sameer / Soroushian, Parviz

Highlights•Mechanochemical processing of the blend of pumice and other raw materials produced one -part hydraulic cement with modified mineralogy constituents.•Some of the hydraulic cements exhibited desired strength development characteristics and moisture resistance upon hydration at room temperature.•The microstructure of hydration products points at the formation of a continuous structure of hydrates embodying interconnected micro-scale pores.•The hydration rates of the hydraulic cements produced with different sources of alkali and alkaline earth metals vary significantly.

AbstractPumice, a volcanic tuff, was used as aluminosilicate precursor in production of one-part alkali activated cement. Depending on their cooling rate and aging processes, volcanic tuffs exhibit different degrees of reactivity. The pumice used in this project was subjected to heat treatment followed by mechanochemical processing, together with different naturally occurring sources of alkali or alkaline earth metal cations, into hydraulic (one-part alkali activated) cements. The resultant hydraulic cements were evaluated based on their strength development characteristics via hydration reactions. The particle size distribution and heat of hydration of cement particles, and the chemical composition, mineralogy, bond structure, thermal attributes and morphology of cement particles and hydrated cement paste were also investigated. The results indicated that some of the simple formulations and processing conditions developed in the project produce hydraulic cements with viable structures and strength development qualities.