Development of Quarry Dust and Fly Ash-based One-Part Geopolymer: Potential Stabilizer for Sustainable Pavement Construction
Gbenga Emmanuel ADERINTO, Jacob Olumuyiwa IKOTUN, Valentine Yato KATTE, Bolanle Deborah IKOTUN, Makungu Marco MADIRISHA, Rasheed ABDULWAHAB
Abstract. The rising demand for sustainable and cost-effective pavement materials has spurred research into alternative binders to replace Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and lime, both of which are associated with high carbon emissions and resource depletion. This study developed a one-part geopolymer composite using fly ash (FA) and quarry dust (QD) as aluminosilicate precursors, activated with sodium silicate (SS) synthesized from waste glass and sodium hydroxide. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis confirmed the suitability of the raw materials, with high SiO₂ contents (73.92% in QD and 54.49% in FA) and Al₂O₃ contents (13.13% in QD and 33.74% in FA), while the synthesized sodium silicate, characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows distinct Na₂SiO₃ peaks of approximately 61% amorphous content, which are vital for geopolymerization. The geopolymer mixes were prepared with an average FA:QD: SS mass ratio of approximately 6:3:1 and an activator-to-precursor (AL/P) ratio between 0.35 and 0.38. The developed mixes demonstrated good workability, with flowability ranging from 110% to 126%, facilitating easy application. Compressive strength tests show an increase with curing age, reaching 4.2–6.7 MPa at 7 days, 19.9–24.4 MPa at 14 days, and 25.5–30.7 MPa at 28 days, all exceeding the minimum strength requirements for stabilized pavement base layers. Similarly, flexural strength improved from 3.2 MPa at 7 days to 5.6 MPa at 28 days, indicating improved load-bearing capacity and long-term performance under traffic conditions. The synthesized sodium silicate exhibited high reactivity that significantly enhanced geopolymerization. These findings demonstrate that the FA–QD geopolymer binder activated with synthesized sodium silicate exhibited excellent mechanical strength and good workability, confirming its suitability as a sustainable pavement stabilizer and advancing circular economy goals through the valorization of multiple industrial wastes.
Keywords
Geopolymer, Sustainable Pavement, Quarry Dust, Fly Ash, Alkalination, Circular Economy, Alternative Binders
Published online 4/2/2026, 9 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Gbenga Emmanuel ADERINTO, Jacob Olumuyiwa IKOTUN, Valentine Yato KATTE, Bolanle Deborah IKOTUN, Makungu Marco MADIRISHA, Rasheed ABDULWAHAB, Development of Quarry Dust and Fly Ash-based One-Part Geopolymer: Potential Stabilizer for Sustainable Pavement Construction, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 63, pp 21-29, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904053-3
The article was published as article 3 of the book Advances in Cement and Concrete Research
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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