Geopolymer Concrete

Geopolymer concrete is a cementitious building material that replaces some or all of the Portland cement binder in ordinary concrete with industrial byproducts, most often fly ash or ground granulated blast furnace slag, activated by an alkaline solution to form a hardened matrix rather than through the calcium-silicate-hydrate reaction that gives ordinary concrete its strength. Researched since the 1970s and developed into practical building applications from the 1990s onward, it is promoted chiefly for its lower carbon footprint, since Portland cement manufacture is a major source of industrial carbon dioxide emissions, and it can achieve compressive strength and durability comparable to conventional concrete while using materials that would otherwise be industrial waste. Its adoption in mainstream construction has been gradual, limited partly by less standardized mix design and building-code recognition compared with ordinary Portland cement concrete.