Fire Resistance of Alkali Activated Geopolymer Foams Produced from Metakaolin and Na(2)O(2)

This work aims to investigate the feasibility that alkali-based geopolymer foams produced from metakaolin and Na(2)O(2) are applied for fire protection. Dry bulk density, porosity, mechanical strength, thermal conductivity, and fire resistance of the geopolymer foams are discussed as a function of the Na(2)O(2) amounts. As Na(2)O(2) content varies from 1% to 4%, dry bulk density, mechanical strength and thermal conductivity of the geopolymer foams approximately exhibit opposite trends with that of the porosity. At the later stage of the 3 h fire-resistance tests, the reverse-side temperatures of all tested samples were always maintained at 220–250 °C. Meanwhile, the amorphous skeleton structures have been converted to smooth ceramics during the high temperature processes, which is the main reason that the geopolymer foams possess a stable porous structure and excellent fire resistance. Therefore, we could conclude that alkali-activated geopolymer foams with extraordinary fire resistance have great potential for fire protection applications.