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

Abstract

This work aims to investigate the feasibility that alkali-based geopolymer foams produced from metakaolin and Na ₂O 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 ₂O ₂ amounts. As Na ₂O 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.