Gel Evolution of Copper Tailing-Based Green Geopolymers in Marine Related Environments

Geopolymers have attracted extensive attention in the marine environment because of its special reticulate nanostructure. Gel evolutions of copper tailing-based green geopolymers were studied under air, deionized water, seawater, freeze–thaw cycle and carbonization environments. Their mechanical properties and microstructures were characterized by compressive strength measurement, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that the deionized water and natural marine water exposure promoted the evolution degree of geopolymers and improved their compressive strength, while exposure to the carbonization environment weakened the gel evolution and decreased the cross-linking degree of the Sodium aluminosilicate hydrate (N-A-S-H)gel structure, resulting in a decline of compressive strength. The geopolymer exposed in the freeze–thaw cycle exhibited the worst deterioration due to the expansion caused by the crystallization in the geopolymer. These results are essential and beneficial to further understanding the gel formation process in various marine environments and could promote the investigation of green concrete.