KINETIC CRYSTALLIZATION OF GEOPOLYMER

The geopolymer was introduced by Davidovits on 1978 to describe inorganic
network. Geopolymer is an alternative binders for the Portland Cement (PC) due to
many factors such as better chemical and mechanical characteristic concrete and an
enviroment issues like emmision of Carbon Dioxide. The aim of this research is to
conduct a study on the crystallization kinetic’s of geopolymer using the Avrami
Kinetic Theory. Tests were carried out using Leatherhead Food Research Association
(LFRA) Texture Analyzer to analyze the crystallization profile. This project involved
the investigation on different types of alkaline solution and alkaline concentration at
different range of temperature. The result indicates that the Potassium Hydroxide at
low concentration has better performance in achieving an optimum time for
geopolymerization process. Higher temperature is recommended to crystallize the
geopolymer as it shorter the setting time. However, the geopolymer still crystallized
at room temperature. Based on the kinetic study, the growth rate (K) increased with
the concentration of solution and temperature. The Avrami exponent (n) trend was
increasing as growth rate increases and vice versa.