PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS OF GLASS FIBER REINFORCED GEOPOLYMER COMPOSITES AS COATING FOR CARBON STEEL PROTECTION FROM CORROSION

The brittle nature of geopolymer restricted major application of geopolymer. Technically, the addition of fiber seems to improve the brittleness of material. The main objective of the present study is to evaluate the performance of glass fiber reinforced geopolymer composite as a coating for carbon steel protection from corrosion. Three test parameter of curing time, Na: Al and water: solid ratio with a range of 3 to 180 days, 0.6 to 1.2 and 0.30 to 0.36, respectively, was evaluated to find the optimum value to produce better geopolymer. A glass fiber with two different lengths of 6 and 12 mm with 0.2 to 2.0 wt% of fiber content was added into geopolymer system. Mechanical properties of geopolymer composite were measured based on adhesion, flexural, compressive and corrosion testing via Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurement technique. Characterization of geopolymer composite was examined using Brunauer Emmet Teller (BET) and Field- emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FeSEM).