Experimental study on the synthesis and characterization of aplite rock-based geopolymers

Abstract

This paper presents a new method for geopolymer synthesis of ground aplite rock. The resulting geopolymers were easy to manufacture and exhibited promising mechanical properties. Compressive strength testing, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscope analyzes were performed. The results indicated that in manufacturing, the aplite-based geopolymers, potassium-containing systems gave noticeable improvements in comparison with sodium-containing systems. Rheological behavior of the geopolymeric slurry showed non-Newtonian behavior. The Bingham and Herschel–Bulkley models were selected to simulate the viscosities of the slurries. The Bingham model fitted to the measured data with an average deviation of 1.65 (lbf/100 ft2) while the Herschel–Bulkley model showed large deviations from the experimental data.