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Is it really a geopolymer?



Event Date 30 Jul 2014 (Wed), 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Venue CBE-SR2, Block N1.2, Level B3, School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, NTU
Organiser NTU-JTC Industrial Infrastructure Innovation Centre (Email : d-ntujtci3c@ntu.edu.sg  Tel/Fax : 65927956)


Event Info

Seminar on
Is it really a geopolymer?

Seminar Topic:
Is it really a geopolymer?  Does it matter? Geopolymers which are made by alkali hydroxide activation of aluminosilicate precursor (i.e. fly ash or some other waste material) are part of the more general material system called alkali-activated aluminosilicates.  The main component of geopolymer is hydrous alkali aluminosilicate, whereas hydrated Portland cement has calcium silicate hydrate, perhaps containing some alumina, as its main component.  Since properties of these two phases are different, it is clearly very important to determine whether the material being studied is an alkali aluminosilicate (i.e., a geopolymer) or a calcium aluminosilicate hydrate.  These materials are usually amorphous or poorly crystalline and are usually heterogeneous on a micron scale, so widely used analytical techniques like X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy do not allow unambiguous identification. Spectroscopic techniques like nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) allow us to identify and characterize both geopolymer gel and calcium silicate hydrate. This presentation will review the molecular structure of each phase, discuss identification using spectroscopic techniques, and consider how the behavior relates to the composition. 


About the Speaker:
Professor Leslie J. Struble, Director of the Center for Cement Composite Materials at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society (JACerS), holds a B.A. in Chemistry (Pitzer College), an M.S. in Civil Engineering (Purdue University, 1979), and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Purdue University, 1987). She is a member and fellow of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), and a member of the American Association of University Professors. Professor Struble has extensive experience in concrete science and technology as well as composition, microstructure, and performance of building materials. Currently, she is directing research on geopolymer set and on molecular structure and creep of calcium silicate hydrate. She has edited several books and proceedings and has authored or co-authored more than 140 publications dealing with various aspects of cement and concrete.



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