ABSTRACT
Conventional thermal insulation materials, such as glass wool and extruded polystyrene, owned-in significant technical limitations. The geopolymers emerge as an alternative due to their properties. In this sense the objective of this work is to describe the develop geopolymers with low thermal conductivity. Samples of geopolymers were produced from metakaolin (Al2O3.2SiO2) which, due to its high reactivity, made it possible to produce inorganic polymers with interesting physical properties, which can be used for thermal insulation. The samples of aluminosilicate were activated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium silicate (Na2SiO3). Samples of light geopolymers were produced with addition of different percentages of a pore former (0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4%). The samples were characterized with respect to: compressive strength, water absorption, thermal conductivity, density and microstructure.
Keywords:
Thermal insulation; Geopolymers; Thermal conductivity
