Utilization of solar panel waste glass for metakaolinite-based geopolymer synthesis

This study investigated the effect of solid‐to‐liquid ratio (0.4–1.0) on the properties of geopolymer, in which some metakaolinite was replaced by solar panel waste glass (0–40%). The experimental results indicate that geopolymer containing 10% solar panel waste glass at a solid‐to‐liquid ratio of 1.0 has higher compressive strength than geopolymer without solar panel waste glass at 1 and 7 days of curing. Thus, geopolymer containing 10% solar panel waste glass is more suitable than geopolymer without solar panel waste glass for practical applications. Furthermore, the porosity of the geopolymer declined as the density increased. The experimental results showed that the degree of reaction of the geopolymer increased with the solid‐to‐liquid ratio. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra revealed that the principal peaks from the geopolymer corresponded to the Si—O—Al bonds. The scanning electron microscopy of the geopolymer indicated that the main structure of a geopolymer that contained solar panel glass with a higher solid‐to‐liquid ratio was more compact and homogenous, which is consistent with the higher density and lower porosity. The experimental results showed that the solid‐to‐liquid ratio affected the properties of geopolymer considerably. In addition, we observed some positive influence of the solar panel waste glass on the compressive strength of metakaolinite‐based geopolymer; however, it was limited to the early compressive strength. Furthermore, the degree of reaction of the geopolymer that contained 10% solar panel waste glass was similar to that of the metakaolinite‐based geopolymer when the positive influence on the compressive strength diminished. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 32: 797–803, 2013