To ensure the acceptable mechanical strength of amorphous wollastonitic hydraulic binders (AWHs), activation with a sodium silicate solution is necessary. However, the use of this type of activator increases the final cost and the complexity of the product's overall use. In this work, we focus on enhancing the manufacturing of the alkaline activator by producing three Na2SiO3 powders using cost-effective raw materials. The procedure consisted of heating a mixture of NaOH pebbles with either sand, glass, or diatomite to a temperature of 330 °C for 2 h. After synthesis, the powders were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques. Finally, mortars made with AWHs were activated using the synthesized powders that were added either as a solid or dissolved in an aqueous solution. The compressive strength results in these mortars show that the lab-made activators are competitive with the traditional sodium silicate activators. Furthermore, the synthetized activators can be added in either solid form or pre-dissolved in a solution. This innovative approach represents a more economical, sustainable and easy-to-use approach to enhancing the competitiveness of AWHs.
Keywords: alkaline activator; alternative binder; cement; sodium silicate synthesis.