The Effect of Wood Addition on the Properties of Geopolymers: A short review

Abstract

One of the latest approaches to substituting the natural aggregates or fibers in the geopolymers is the use of wood waste. The wood flour, chips, or fibers coming from end-of-life furniture or construction and demolition waste can be incorporated into the composition of geopolymers to achieve lighter products and, most importantly, to reduce the use of virgin raw materials. However, when combining inorganic and organic materials into a product that should withstand thousands or hundreds of years, the exhaustive evaluation of the behavior of the obtained composites is very challenging. The current literature mainly approaches the influence of the wood type and amount on the main properties of the geopolymers, but a deep evaluation of the long-term behavior of these wood-aluminosilicate mixtures is still necessary. The current study presents a brief overview of the research conducted on the effect of wood addition on the compressive strength, flexural strength, physical properties, microstructure, and durability of geopolymers. Accordingly, it was concluded that low amounts of wood particles will increase the compressive strength of geopolymer composites. However, the wood presence may result in a slight decrease in durability due to water absorption and the higher porosity of the resulting composite compared to the geopolymer without wood content. Moreover, the current challenges, opportunities, and limitations were identified.