Introducing Bayer Liquor-Derived Geopolymers

Geopolymer- or alkali-activated material has been studied for many years. In fact there are now a number of examples of commercial products and large installations of alkali-activated materials (AAMs). Initially the benefits of low CO 2 compared with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was one of the main points of distinction and fueled more research in this area. As the field of geopolymers matured it became obvious that more rigorous assessments of costs, CO 2 emissions, and embodied energy were required prior to increased commercialization. These assessments revealed that some of the initial assumptions about costs and CO 2 cannot be extended to all mix formulations and for all locations. There are a number of instances where AAMs are more expensive than their OPC counterparts and the CO 2 savings may be minimal. At first these results may appear to be disappointing but in fact they encouraged people to seek alternative precursors that offered lower overall CO 2 and embodied energy while retaining the benefits of AAMs.