Thermal behavior of Sicilian clay-based geopolymers

Geopolymers have been recently proposed for restoration of built heritage to substitute traditional mortars. Local materials and industrial wastes from the Italian region Sicily showed their potential as low-cost aluminosilicate sources for the preparation of geopolymers. Here, a set of Sicilian clays was studied by Thermogravimetry (TG) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and its mineralogical composition was evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The raw materials were used to prepare geopolymers by alkaline activation with or without the addition of silicate. The thermal degradation profile of the final materials was studied by TGA and compared with that of the precursors, and the energetics of dehydration were investigated by DSC. Two statistical analyses (made by Principal Component Analysis) were performed on the TG data of raw materials and geopolymers and on the TG data of geopolymers and their mineralogical composition, respectively. The last analysis in particular showed a correlation between the mineralogical composition of the materials and the samples' thermal properties. Additional studies of samples subject to accelerated aging by UV irradiation and exposure to acetic acid vapors highlighted the different effects of these two agents on the samples’ stability.