Characteristics of NaOH-Activated Blast Furnace Slag Blended with a Fine Particle Silica Waste

J.I. Escalante-García; V.M. Palacios; A.V. Gorokhovsky; G. Mendoza-Suarez; A.F. Fuentes. Characteristics of NaOH-Activated Blast Furnace Slag Blended with a Fine Particle Silica Waste. Journal of the American Ceramic Society (ISSN: 0002-7820). 2002, Vol. 85, p. 1788-2002.

Mortars of blast furnace slag blended with a geothermal silica waste at various replacement levels of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% were cured for up to 90 days. The binder was activated by 6 wt% Na2O equivalent of sodium hydroxide. Lime was added as an activating agent and also to promote pozzolanic reaction with the silica. It was found that the presence of the silica waste increased the reactivity of the cementitious materials, as measured by means of nonevaporable water. The compressive strength was increased in the presence of the silica, except at the highest replacement level of 20%, the optimum silica replacement was that of 5%–10%. The microstructures of blended slag showed less porosity than those of neat slag mortars. The lime was completely consumed after 90 days of hydration