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Simple Compressive Strength Results of Sodium-Hydroxide- and Sodium-Silicate-Activated Copper Flotation Tailing Geopolymers

Geopolymers are created by mixing a source of aluminosilicates, which can be natural or by-products of other industries, with an alkaline solution, which dissolves the aluminates and silicates present in this source, where after a polymerization process, an N-A-S-H gel is formed, which is responsible for providing the properties that characterize geopolymers. Among the variety of existing geopolymers, those based on by-products from other industries stand out since they were demonstrated to be a less-polluting alternative for concrete production than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Due to the above, it is essential to study copper flotation tailings as raw material to generate geopolymers. The excessive amounts of existing tailing deposits also produce different risks for the nearby communities. Therefore, using this industrial waste as a construction material would provide several environmental and economic benefits. This article reports on the experimental work carried out in the laboratory of the Sustainable Mining Research Center CIMS of the Engineering Consulting Company JRI, where the effect of the alkaline activator type on the compressive strength of geopolymers based on copper flotation tailings was analyzed. For this purpose, two geopolymeric mixtures were made with different kinds of alkaline activators; one activated using 100% NaOH and the other activated with 100% sodium silicate (SS). From the results, it was found that the geopolymers activated with 100% SS obtained the highest compressive strength, reaching 36.46 MPa with 7 days of curing at 90 °C, followed by the geopolymers activated with 100% NaOH, where a compressive strength of 22.98 MPa was obtained under the same curing conditions. On the other hand, it was found that both geopolymers created were not leachable according to the TCLP test performed, and thus, these geopolymers were classified as non-toxic materials. In addition, it was found that both geopolymers presented a high infiltration value, making them practically impermeable.