Alkali Activated Material Brick

Abstract

The infrastructure development is playing key role in the developing country like India. The need of new construction materials, processes and construction techniques have been increased. With the increased need of new sustainable construction materials, researchers focus on utilization of waste materials which have great potential to replace the conventional materials. Alkali activated binder is a new emerging binding material, claimed to be potential to replace the cement. Cement is contributor to world-wide greenhouse gas as 5% of total CO₂ emission. Though, the demand for cement has been increasing with time. Alkali activated binder technology uses the aluminum and silicate rich industrial wastes like fly ash, GGBS, metakaolin, red mud, etc., and alkaline solution as mixture of sodium silicate (Na₂SiO₃) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Alkali activated binder prepared from the waste industrial materials, eco-friendly in nature, economical, and also give acceptable and comparable results when compared with conventional materials. Alkali activated material can be used for the application of concrete, bricks, paver blocks, mortar, etc. This binding material could be one of the solution for sustainable infrastructure development. In the presented study, effort has been made to prepare the bricks using alkali activated binders and alkaline liquid. The alkali activated bricks were prepared from the fly ash, GGBS, sand as a binding material and sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate as alkaline solutions. The mechanical performance of the bricks were tested at 28 days under ambient curing by performing the compressive strength test. The approximate cost and the compressive strength results shows the potential of the prepared alkali activated bricks.