Mechanical and physical properties of metakaolin based geopolymer paste

This paper presents the result of studies on utilizing metakaolin obtained from Belitung as fly ash substitute material to produce geopolymer paste. Mechanical properties were assessed by compressive strength while physical properties were assessed by setting time, porosity, microstructure test and density test. The experiment was performed on geopolymer paste with 0, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% fly ash replacement with metakaolin. Sodium Hidroxide (NaOH) with concentration of 10 Molars and Sodium Silicate (Na2SiO3) were used as alkaline activator. In addition, activator ratio between sodium silicate to sodium hidroxide of 2 was applied. The result obtains that increasing metakaolin contain in mixture deliver longer setting time, higher open pore number, lower density and lower compressive strength of geopolymer paste. However, adding metakaolin up to 25 % into geopolymer paste mixture could increase mechanical and physical properties of geopolymer paste.