Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

THE POTENTIAL USE OF CLAY-FLY ASH GEOPOLYMER IN THE DESIGN OF ACTIVE-PASSIVE LINERS: A REVIEW

  • Published:
Clays and Clay Minerals

Abstract

Because long-term leachate migration through a hydraulic barrier is inevitable, compacted clay and cementitious liners are commonly used as ‘active-passive’ liners to attenuate percolated leachate. The scarcity of suitable clay and because of the CO2 emitted during the production of Portland cement as well as drying shrinkage, flow rate due to consolidation, limited attenuation capacity, and chemical instability may mean that these are not the best choices of materials to use for this purpose. An environmentally friendly method to improve the properties of local clay and provision for a long-term physical and chemical containment are essential. Geopolymers can be environmentally friendly substitutes for Portland cement to improve soil properties, not just because of the reduced carbon dioxide emission, but also because of its superior physical and chemical properties, as well as significant early strength, reduced shrinkage, freeze-thaw resistance, long-term durability, and attenuation capacity. According to previous studies, class-F fly ash-based geopolymers activated with NaOH exhibit superior attenuation capacity and long-term durability. The presence of silica, alumina, and iron oxides and the lack of calcium oxide play pivotal roles in the acceptable attenuation capacity and chemical stability of class-F fly ash. Accordingly, a clay-fly ash geopolymer may also work as a sustainable liner with appropriate physical and chemical performance. Clay can also participate in the geopolymerization process as an alumino-silicate precursor. All components of clay-fly ash geopolymers possess acceptable adsorption capacity. The type and percentage of the constituent raw materials control the attenuation capacity and physical properties of final products, however. The porosity and conductivity of typical geopolymers are related to the activator type and concentration, water content, and curing condition. Furthermore, the properties of liner materials can be adjusted with respect to the target contaminants. The present study aimed to present a comprehensive review of the relevant studies to highlight the properties required.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Alastair, M., Andrewa, H., Pascaline, P., Mark, E., & Pete, W. (2018). Alkali activation behavior of un-calcined montmorillonite and illite clay minerals. Applied Clay Science, 166, 250–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Zboon, K., Al-Harahsheh, M. S., & Bani Hani, F. (2011). Fly ash-based geopolymer for Pb removal from aqueous solution. Hazardous Materials, 188, 414–421.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andreas, L., Diener, S., & Lagerkvist, A. (2014). Steel slags in a landfill top cover—Experiences from a full-scale experiment. Waste Management, 34, 692–701.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagchi, A. (1987). Natural attenuation mechanisms of landfill leachate and effects of various factors on the mechanisms. Waste Management & Research, 453–463.

  • Bakharev, T. (2005). Durability of geopolymer materials in sodium and magnesium sulphate solutions. Cement Concrete Research, 35, 1233–1246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowders, J., Gidley, J., & Usmen, M. (1990). Permeability and leachate characteristics of stabilized class F fly ash. Pp. 70–77 in: Transportation Research Record 1288 TRB, National Research Council, Washington D.C., April 1991.

  • Broderick, G. P., & Daniel, D. E. (1990). Stabilizing compacted clay against chemical attack. Geotechnical Engineering, 116, 1549–1567.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chakradhar, V. & Katoch, S.S. (2016). Study of fly ash in hydraulic barriers in landfills – A review. International Journal of Advanced Science, Engineering &Technology, 5, 32–38.

  • Chamberlain, E.J., Iskander, I., & Hunsicker, S.E. (1990). Effect of freeze-thaw cycles on the permeability and macrostructure of soils. Pp. 145–155 in: Proceeding of International Symposium on Frozen Soil Impacts on Agricultural, Range, and Forest Lands.

  • Chertkov, V. Y. (2000). Using surface cracks spacing to predict crack network geometry in swelling soils. Soil Science Society of America, 64, 1918–1921.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comire, D.C., Paterson, J.H., & Ritcey, D.J. (1989). Applications of geopolymer technology to waste stabilization. Pp. 161–165 in: Third International Conference On New frontiers for Hazardous Waste Management - Proceedings. US Government Printing Office, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

  • Creek, D. & Shackelford, C. (1992). Permeability and leaching characteristics of fly ash liner materials. Transportation Research Record 1345 TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 74–83.

  • Criado, M., Fernández Jiménez, A., Sobrados, I., Palomo, A., & Sanz, J. (2012). Effect of relative humidity on the reaction products of alkali activated fly ash. Journal of European Ceramic Society, 32, 2799–2807.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniel, D. E. (1984). Predicting hydraulic conductivity of clay liners. Geotechnical Engineering, 110, 285–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniel, D. E. (1993). Geotechnical Practice for Waste Disposal. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Science, Business, Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidovits, J. (1991). Geopolymers: Inorganic polymeric new materials. Journal of Thermal Analysis, 37, 1633–1656.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidovits, J. (1994). Alkaline cement and concretes, properties of geopolymer cements. In: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Alkaline Cements and Concretes, Kiev, Ukraine, 131–149.

  • Davidovits, J., & Comrie, D. (1988). Archaeological long-term durability of hazardous waste disposal: preliminary results with geopolymer technologies, Division of Environmental Chemistry. American Chemical Society, Extended Abstracts, 237–240. See also: Long term durability of hazardous toxic and nuclear waste disposals. Geopolymer '88: First European Conference on Soft Mineralurgy, 125–134.

  • Davidovits, J., Comrie, D., Paterson, J., & Ritcey, D. (1990). Geopolymeric concretes for environmental protection. ACI Concrete International, 12, 30–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinchak, W.G. (2009). A soil cement/synthetic liner for hazardous waste impoundments. Water International, 79–83.

  • Dolezal, J., Skvara, F., Svoboda, P., Sulc, R., Kopecky, L., Pavlasova, S., Myskova, L., Lucuk, M. & Dvoracek, K. (2007). Concrete based on fly ash geopolymers. Pp. 185–197 in: Alkali activated materials – research, production and utilization 3rd conference, Prague, Czech Republic.

  • Engelhardt, G., & Michel, D. (1987). High Resolution Solid State RMN of Silicates and Zeolites. New Delhi: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Jiménez, A., Cristelo, N., Miranda, T., & Palomo, A. (2017). Sustainable alkali activated materials: precursor and activator derived from industrial wastes. Journal of Cleaner Production, 114, 40–48.

  • Fernández Pereira, C., Galiano, Y., Querol, X., Antenucci, P., & Vale, J. F. (2009). Waste stabilization/solidification of an electric arc furnace dust using fly ash-based geopolymers. Fuel, 88, 1185–1193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Firoozfar, A., & Khosroshiri, N. (2016). Kerman clay improvement by lime and bentonite to be used as materials of landfill liner. Geotechnical & Geology Engineering, 35, 559–571.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu, Y., Cai, L., & Wu, Y. (2011). Freeze–thaw cycle test and damage mechanics models of alkali-activated slag concrete. Construction Building & Materials, 25, 3144–3148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, W.H. (1977). Movement of Selected Metals, Asbestos and Cyanide in Soil, Applications to Waste Disposal Problems. EPA-600/2-77-020, U.S. EPA.

  • Ganjian, E., Classie, P., Tyrer, M., & Atkinson, A. (2004). Preliminary investigations into the use of secondary waste minerals as a novel cementitious landfill liner. Construction Building & Materials, 18, 689–699.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glasser, F. P. (2013). Cement in radioactive waste disposal. Waste Technology Section, Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hettiaratchi, J. P. A., Achari, G., Joshi, R. C., & Okoli, R. E. (1999). Feasibility of using fly ash admixtures in landfill bottom liners or vertical barriers at contaminated site. Environmental Science and Health – A, 34, 1897–1917.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishwarya, G. (2013). Development of geopolymer concrete cured at ambient temperature. M. Technical thesis, Roorkee, India: CSIR-Central Building Research Institute (AcSIR).

  • Javadian, H., Ghorbani, F., Tayebi, H. A., & Hosseini, S. M. (2015). Study of the adsorption of Cd (II). from aqueous solution using zeolite-based geopolymer, synthesized from coal fly ash; kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic studies. Arabian Journal of Chemistry, 8, 837–849.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judith, L. L., Stephen, K., & Michael, W. G. (1992). Zeolite formation in class F fly ash blended cement pastes. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 75, 1574–1580.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleppe, J. H., & Olson, R. E. (1985). Desiccation cracking of soil barriers hydraulic barriers in soil and rock. Hydraulic Barriers Soil Rock, 874, 263–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch, D. (2002). Bentonites as a basic material for technical base liners and site encapsulation cut-off walls. Applied Clay Science, 21, 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Komljenović, M., Baščarević, Z., & Bradić, V. (2010). Mechanical and microstructural properties of alkali-activated fly ash geopolymers. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 181, 35–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Komnitsas, K., Bartzas, G., & Paspaliaris, I. (2004). Clean-up of acidic leachates using fly ash barriers: laboratory column studies. Global Nest Journal, 6, 81–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, L., Wang, S., & Zhu, Z. (2006). Geopolymeric adsorbents from fly ash for dye removal from aqueous solution. Advances in Colloid & Interface Science, 300, 52–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma, Y., Hua, J., & Ye, G. (2013). The pore structure and permeability of alkali activated fly ash. Fuel, 104, 771–780.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma, Y., & Ye, G. (2015). The shrinkage of alkali activated fly ash. Cement Concrete Research, 68, 75–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Majone, M., Papini, M. P., & Rolle, E. (1998). Influence of metal speciation in landfill leachates on kaolinite sorption. Water Research, 32, 882–890.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minnesota, P. C. A. (1978). Disposal of Residuals by Landfilling. Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.: Minnesota PCA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, A., & Ravindra, V. (2015). On the utilization of fly ash and cement mixture as a landfill liner material. International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering, 1, 16–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, J. K. (1976). Fundamentals of Soil Behavior. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohan, S., & Gandhimathi, R. (2009). Removal of heavy metal ions from municipal solid waste leachate using coal fly ash as an adsorbent. Hazardous Materials, 169, 351–359.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mollah, M. Y. A., Hess, T. R., & Cocke, D. L. (1994). Surface and bulk studies of leached and un-leached fly ash using XPS, EDS, SEM and FT-IR techniques. Cement and Concrete Research, 24, 109–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mužek, M. N., Svilović, S., & Zelić, J. (2014). Fly ash-based geopolymeric adsorbent for copper ion removal from wastewater. Desalination & Water Treatment, 52, 2519–2526.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nhan, C. T., Graydon, J. W., & Kirk, D. W. (1996). Utilizing coal fly ash as a landfill barrier material. Waste Management, 16, 587–595.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oruh, S., & Nuri Ergun, O. (2010). Use of fly ash, phosphogypsum and red mud as a liner material for the disposal of hazardous zinc leach residue waste. Hazardous Materials, 173, 468–473.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pacheco-Torgal, F., Castro-Gomes, J., & Jalali, S. (2008). Alkali-activated binders: A review: Part 1. Historical background, terminology, reaction mechanisms and hydration products. Construction and Building Materials, 22, 1305–1314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pacheco-Torgal, F., Labrincha, J., Leonelli, C., Palomo, A., & Chindaprasirt, P. (2015). Handbook of Alkali activated Cements, Mortars and Concretes, Woodhead Publishing in Civil and Structural Engineering, Elsevier, Amsterdam.

  • Palmer, B. G., Edil, T. B., & Benson, C. H. (2000). Liners for waste containment constructed with class F and C fly ashes. Hazardous Materials, 76, 193–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palomo, A., Grutzeck, M. W., & Blanco, M. T. (1999). Alkali-activated fly ashes – a cement for the future. Cement Concrete Research, 29, 1323–1329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palomo, A., Alonso, S., & Fernandez-Jiménez, A. (2004). Alkaline activation of fly ashes: NMR study of the reaction products. American Ceramic Society, 87, 1141–1145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phair, J. W., Van Deventer, J. S. J., & Smith, J. D. (2004). Effect of Al source and alkali activation on Pb and Cu immobilisation in fly-ash based “geopolymers”. Applied Geochemistry, 19, 423–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pignatello, J. J. (1998). Soil organic matter as a nonporous sorbent of organic pollutants. Advances in Colloid Interface Science, 76, 445–467.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pignatello, J. J., & Xing, B. (1996). Mechanisms of slow sorption of organic chemicals to natural particles. Environmental Science & Technology, 30, 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prashanth, J. P., Sivapullaiah, P. V., & Sridharan, A. (2001). Pozzolanic fly ash as a hydraulic barrier in land fill. Engineering Geology, 60, 245–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Provis, J. L., Lukey, G. C., & Van Deventer, J. S. J. (2005). Do geopolymers actually contain nanocrystalline zeolites? A re-examination of existing results. Materials Chemistry, 17, 3075–3085.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rao, R. K. A., Hess, T. R., Cocke, D. L., & Lauer, H. V. (1994). Fraction and characterisation of Texas lignite class F fly ash by XRD, TGA, FTIR and SFM. Cement and Concrete Research, 24, 1153–1164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rios, S., Cristelo, C., Viana Da Fonseca, A., & Ferreira, C. (2016). Structural performance of alkali activated soil-ash versus soil-cement. Material in Civil Engineering, 28(2).

  • Rogers, E.H. (1968). Soil-cement linings for water-containing structures. Pp. 95–105 in: Proceedings of Second Seepage Symposium, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, 95–105.

  • Ruen-ngam, D., Rungsuk, D., Apiratikul, R., & Pavasant, P. (2009). Zeolite formation from coal fly ash and its adsorption potential. Air & Waste Management Association, 59, 1140–1147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahoo, P. K., Tripathy, S., Panigrahi, M. K. P., & Equeenuddin, S. K. M. D. (2013). Evaluation of the use of an alkali modified fly ash as a potential adsorbent for the removal of metals from acid mine drainage. Applied Water Science, 3, 567–576.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schevon, G. R., & Damas, G. (1986). Using double liners in landfill design and operation. Waste Management & Research, 4, 161–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shackelford, C. D., & Glade, M. J. (1994). Constant flow and constant gradient permeability tests on sand-bentonite fly ash mixtures. Hydraulic Conduct Waste Contaminant Transport Soil ASTM STP, 1142, 521–545.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sivapullaiah, P. V., & Lakshmikantha, H. (2004). Properties of fly ash as hydraulic barrier. Soil and Sediment Contamination, 13, 391–406.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sivapullaiah, P., & Moghal, A. (2011). Role of gypsum in the strength development of fly ashes with lime. Materials in Civil Engineering, 23, 197–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skvara, F., Šmilauer, V., Hlaváček, P., Kopecký, L., & Ćilová, Z. (2012). A weak alkali bond in (N, K)-A-S-H gels: evidence from leaching and modeling. Ceramic Silikaty, 56, 374–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki, K., & Ono, Y. (2008). Leaching characteristics of stabilized/solidified fly ash generated from ash melting plant. Chemosphere, 71, 922–932.

    Google Scholar 

  • Temuujin, J., Van Riessen, A., & Williams, R. (2009). Influence of calcium compounds on the mechanical properties of fly ash geopolymer pastes. Hazardous Material, 167, 82–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, S. F., & Lerner, D. N. (2001). Attenuation of landfill leachate by clay liner materials in laboratory columns: 2. Behavior of inorganic contaminants. Waste Management & Research, 19, 70–88.

  • UK Nirex (1993). Report No. 525, Scientific Update. (Harwell, Didcot, OXON UK): United Kingdom Nirex Ltd, p. 25.

  • Van Jaarsveld, J. G. S., Van Deventer, J. S. J., & Lorenzen, L. (1998). Factors affecting the immobilisation of metals in geopolymerised fly ash. Metallurgy and Materials Transaction-B, 29, 283–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Jaarsveld, J. G. S., Van Deventer, J. S. J., & Schwartzman, A. (1999). The potential use of geopolymeric materials to immobilise toxic metals: Part II. Material and leaching characteristics. Minerals Engineering, 12, 75–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vesperman, K. D., Edil, T. B., & Berthouex, P. M. (1985). Conductivity of fly ash and fly ash sand mixtures. Hydraulic Barriers Soil Rock, 874, 289–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waijarean, N., Asavapisit, S., & Sombatsompop, K. (2014). Strength and microstructure of water treatment residue-based geopolymers containing heavy metals. Construction and Building Materials, 50, 486–491.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, S. H., Li, L., & Zhua, Z. H. (2007). Solid-state conversion of fly ash to effective adsorbents for Cu removal from wastewater. Hazardous Materials, 139, 254–259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeheyis, M. B., Shang, J. Q., & Yanful, K. Y. (2009). Feasibility of using coal fly ash for mine waste containment. Environmental Engineering, 136, 682–690.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Z., Wang, H., & Provis, J. L. (2012). Quantitative study of the reactivity of fly ash in geopolymerization by FTIR. Sustainable Cement-Based Materials, 1, 154–166.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Guilan, P.O. 3756, Rasht, Guilan, Iran

    Elmira Khaksar Najafi, Reza Jamshidi Chenari & Mahyar Arabani

Authors
  1. Elmira Khaksar Najafi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Reza Jamshidi Chenari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mahyar Arabani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Reza Jamshidi Chenari.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

No funding was received to carry out this research. There are no conflicts of research to be reported. No human/animal rights issue is relevant here.

Additional information

(Received 14 August 2019; revised 8 April 2020; AE: Luyi Sun)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Khaksar Najafi, E., Jamshidi Chenari, R. & Arabani, M. THE POTENTIAL USE OF CLAY-FLY ASH GEOPOLYMER IN THE DESIGN OF ACTIVE-PASSIVE LINERS: A REVIEW. Clays Clay Miner. 68, 296–308 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42860-020-00074-w

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42860-020-00074-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation