The behaviour of alkali activated materials based on calcium clay at elevated temperatures

¹ University of Technology, Institute of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, 37 Jana Pawła II St., 31-864 Cracow, Poland
² WKG Ltd, L.P., 69 Działoszyńska St., 98-355 Raciszyn, Poland

^* Corresponding author: dariusz.mierzwinski@mech.pk.edu.pl

Abstract

Growing environmental awareness and importance of development of sustainable construction materials for decreasing environmental impact of construction industry are main motivators to research work on new, innovative materials’ solutions. The most promise alternative solutions are technologies based on alkali-activated. This process allows to obtain the fire-resistant materials. However, it is a rather complex process, when using waste materials. Nevertheless, waste-based Alkali Activated Materials AAMs can be optimized and tailored to desired applications. The main objective of the article is to analyse the possibilities of using calcium clay from the city called Raciszyn, Poland for the AAMs manufacturing and the properties of the obtained material, including thermal resistance. The results show that new materials have good mechanical properties at elevated temperatures. The materials were tested at 800°C, depending on the used alkaline activator, they were characterized by bending strength in the range: 2.7-6.2 MPa. A permanent change in dimensions due to heating was also determined. Due to the very high fire resistance, materials referred to as AAMs, also produced from waste such as calcium clay, can find a variety of applications in construction and where it is necessary to ensure the passive fire protection.