Synthesis and heavy metal immobilization behaviors of slag based geopolymer

In this paper, two aspects of studies are carried out: (1) synthesis of geopolymer by using slag and metakaolin; (2) immobilization behaviors of slag based geopolymer in a presence of Pb and Cu ions. As for the synthesis of slag based geopolymer, four different slag content (10%, 30%, 50%, 70%) and three types of curing regimes (standard curing, steam curing and autoclave curing) are investigated to obtain the optimum synthesis condition based on the compressive and flexural strength. The testing results showed that geopolymer mortar containing 50% slag that is synthesized at steam curing (80 degrees C for 8h), exhibits higher mechanical strengths. The compressive and flexural strengths of slag based geopolymer mortar are 75.2 MPa and 10.1 MPa, respectively. Additionally, Infrared (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques are used to characterize the microstructure of the slag based geopolymer paste. IR spectra show that the absorptive band at 1086 cm(-1) shifts to lower wave number around 1007 cm(-1), and some six-coordinated Als transforms into four-coordination during the synthesis of slag based geopolymer paste. The resulting slag based geopolymeric products are X-ray amorphous materials. SEM observation shows that it is possible to have geopolymeric gel and calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel forming simultaneously within slag based geopolymer paste. As for immobilization of heavy metals, the leaching tests are employed to investigate the immobilization behaviors of the slag based geopolymer mortar synthesized under the above optimum condition. The leaching tests show that slag based geopolymer mortar can effectively immobilize Cu and Pb heavy metal ions, and the immobilization efficiency reach 98.5% greater when heavy metals are incorporated in the slag geopolymeric matrix in the range of 0.1-0.3%. The Pb exhibits better immobilization efficiency than the Cu in the case of large dosages of heavy metals.