Appraisal of Mechanical Properties of Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Mortar Augmented with GGBS and Graphene Oxide

Cement is the most extensively embraced binding element in every concrete construction. However, the production process of cement is extremely consuming enormous natural resources and emitting almost same sum of CO2 into the sky leading to serious damage. Several past research attempts on finding a substitute binder to replace the cement have emerged geopolymer binders as an efficient replacement for cement. Fly ash is one of the main constituents taken into account for making geopolymer binders. However, compared to cement binders, fly ash-based geopolymer binders set very slowly and have mediocre mechanical qualities. To facilitate the faster setting and to boost mechanical properties of fly ash-based geopolymer binders, the current study has replaced fly ash by GGBS up to 50%. Additionally, carbon-based nano-material, i.e., graphene oxide (GO) up to 0.15% is introduced into the mix to boost compressive and flexural strength. According to the results of the experiments, adding more GGBS shortened the setting time and increased compressive strength by 24.16%. Comparing the geopolymer mix with the addition of GO, compressive strength boosted by 41.11% and flexural strength upgraded by 16.18%. Carbon emission analysis was also conducted for GGBS-based geopolymer binders, and findings have shown that geopolymers could drastically reduce the carbon footprint and aid the sustainable construction practices.