Characteristics of alkali activated material (geopolymer) in sulfuric acid solution

Alkali Activated Material (AAM) or Geopolymer is a solid material which made by mixing rich silica alumina material with alkaline activator. AAM is a well known candidate to replace cement based material. Many researches have claimed that AAM has better durability compared to cement based material in agressive environment. However, there was rare paper presented the direct comparison of material characteristics between Class F fly ash based AAM and Class C fly ash based AAM in such aggresive environment. Because of that, this paper present material characteristics of Class F fly ash based AAM and Class C fly ash based AAM if the materials were immersed in 10% sulfuric acid solution for 65 days. Material characteristics evaluated were (1) weight loss, (2) mineral of the material which evaluated by XRD (X-Ray Diffraction), (3) morphology and oxide compounds of material which evaluated by SEM/EDXA (Scanning Electron Microscopic/Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analyzer) and (4) compound bond which evaluated by FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra Red) Spectroscopy Testing. Alkali Activated Material used were Class F fly ash based AAM Mortar and Class C fly ash based AAM Mortar. The result is a quite difference of material characteristics between Class F fly ash based AAM and Class C fly ash based AAM.