Research Article
A Study on the Influence of Sodium Silicate Concentration and
SiO
2
:Na
2
ORatioonthePropertiesofLow-CalciumFlyAsh-Based
Alkali-Activated Materials Cured at Ambient Condition
Mohammad Idris Rasuli
Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
Correspondence should be addressed to Mohammad Idris Rasuli; 199d9224@st.kumamoto-u.ac.jp
Received 8 December 2021; Accepted 31 January 2022; Published 31 March 2022
Academic Editor: Francesco Colangelo
Copyright © 2022 Mohammad Idris Rasuli. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Low-calcium Fly ash-based alkali-activated materials (AAM) have some extraordinary properties such as high fire resistance and
low shrinkage. However, they have lower strength and high setting time when curing at ambient temperature conditions.
erefore, this research aimed to improve the strength and setting time of low-calcium fly ash-based AAM curing at ambient
temperature conditions. e effect of the changes in concentration and modulus of sodium silicate and curing condition of the
materials were studied on the properties of the AAM. Fly ash type II, 32% sodium metasilicate pentahydrate, 32 and 56% sodium
disilicate solution, 8M sodium hydroxide, and standardized were used. Using 32% sodium disilicate solution significantly
improved the flowability of mortar. Moreover, it increased the compressive strength and remarkably decreased the setting time of
AAM at ambient temperature curing. e decrease in the concentration of sodium disilicate has a significant influence on the
reactivity of fly ash.
1.Introduction
Portland cement (PC) concrete has some remarkable
properties such as the ability to cast in different shapes and
sizes, high compressive strength, and reasonable cost.
Moreover, its reinforcement by steel makes it an extraor-
dinary construction material. According to these facts,
Portland cement concrete is the most commonly used
construction material in the world. Annual global produc-
tion of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) reaches 4 billion
tonnes [1]. But according to the statistics, OPC is responsible
for the emission of 8% CO
2
of the globe [2]. erefore, they
are not environmentally friendly materials and one of the
major causes of global warming, which is a serious issue
nowadays.
When aluminum silicate materials such as fly ash and
slag react with an alkali source, they produces a material that
has binding properties [3, 4]. ese kinds of materials are
called Geopolymer or alkali-activated materials (AAM).
Compared to OPC, AAM is a more environmentally friendly
material because they emit a much lower amount of CO
2
to
the atmosphere [5, 6]. Moreover, they contain some by-
products as their primary constituents, such as fly ash and
slags [7].
Besides being environmentally friendly materials, AAM
have some other advantages, such as obtaining high early
strength and superior mechanical properties [8, 9]. ey
have better resistance to fire, acid attack, and alkali-silica
reaction [10–12].
Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium silicate solution
(water glass) are the two prominent alkaline materials for the
making of AAM [13]. According to the molar ratio
(MR=SiO
2
:Na
2
O), sodium silicate has several types such as
sodium metasilicate (MR = 1) and sodium disilicate (MR = 2)
[14]. Conventionally, water glass is used at a concentration of
around 50% [9, 15–18], which makes the solution to be
viscose and sticky, and this causes AAM to have a workability
problem. Sodium silicate solution not only provides an
Hindawi
Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
Volume 2022, Article ID 7762507, 7 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/7762507