Dear Ayesha,

glass is of course amorphous materia, but it has almost nothing alumina and for sure not the reactive one.

Glass could be used as partially reactive aggregate at every size, better as filler obviously because you can use the fine particles better.

Check about your system because if your precursor should be glass you can’t achieve geopolymerization.

Maybe are you doing Alkali Activated Material?

In this case you don’t obtain mineral polymerization but still hydraulic reaction with little oligomers weakly linked. Alkalis are out of the matrix so will be leached out in water and performances will be lost.

Geopolymerization is different process possible in alkaline or acidic medium, depending on the field of application (the costs are extremely different).

My suggestions are:

1. If you want to obtain Geopolymer material you must change completely the precursor and probably even the mix design and the alkaline liquid reagent. Alkalis in Geopolymers become part of final new insoluble minerals at hardened state, so won’t be leached when in water because aren’t still soluble silicates.

2. If you want to stabilize your AAM glass based, you must find some additive (polymer resin, anti efflorescences or other) that can stabilize better the system. But really will be difficult to avoid the leaching, because using glass as amorphous source, alkalis will remain over saturated and free to move till surface, where can be leached out, unfortunately, quite easily.

Best regards

Have a nice work

Alex Reggiani

Dear Dr. Reggiani

Thank you so much for your answer and for explaining the facts in detail. I have added a mix of precursors (with alumina source), not only the glass.

Kind Regards

Ayesha

You are welcome, have a good work

https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2021.1989319

See this article, it might be helpful