Foamed geopolymers: a review of recent studies

Undoubtedly, current environmental trends force scientists to search for a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the production process of building materials. Geopolymers have been called as a potential alternative to traditional concrete for decades, allowing us to obtain more sustainable and durable materials with good thermal and reasonable mechanical properties and solve the problems related to waste materials utilization. Despite the great interest of scientists and the many advantages both in the production process of geopolymers and in terms of material properties, this idea looks unattainable in the near future, so it is worth investigating alternative ways of geopolymer applications.

Thereby this review paper summarizes the recent progress in the field of foamed geopolymer concrete, focusing on the different preparation methods, material base, as well as information about the obstacles and challenges that hinder the transition of foamed geopolymers from research laboratories to real application in the civil engineering. This report also describes the density, compressive strength, thermal conductivity, pore size and distribution. A random sampling method and descriptive analysis were used in the preparation of a review, taking into account the year of publication, used materials, availability and the number of citations.