Durability of metakaolin geopolymers with various sodium silicate/sodium hydroxide ratios against seawater exposure

This work presents an investigation of the performance of metakaolin geopolymers exposed to the continuous immersion of seawater. The geopolymers were prepared from metakaolin by activating with a mixture of sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solutions and cured at 80°C. The ratios of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide were varied from 0.20 to 0.32. The result showed that metakaolin geopolymers reduce in strength after immersion in seawater for 28 days. The unexposed samples with highest compressive strength attained greatest strength retention. White deposits were formed on the surface of the geopolymers after the exposure to seawater which was believed due to the depolymerisation process of the geopolymer network. Even so, the metakaolin geopolymers did not substantially change in dimension and remain structurally intact.