Possible materials for producing Geopolymer concrete and its performance with and without Fibre addition-A State of the art review

Global warming is one of the most pronounced terms in this present century. Hence reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, which is the reason behind global warming, is the need of the hour and so efforts are urgently underway all over the world to develop environmentally friendly construction materials, which make minimum utility of fast dwindling natural resources and help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Five to eight percent of the world's manmade Greenhouse gas emissions are from the Cement industry itself. It is an established fact that the green house gas emissions are reduced by 80% in Geopolymer concrete vis-a-vis the conventional Portland cement manufacturing, as it does not involve carbonate burns. In this connection, Geopolymers are showing great potential and several researchers have critically examined the various aspects of their viability as binder system. Considerable research has been carried out on development of Geopolymer concretes (GPCs), which involve heat curing. A few studies have been reported on the use of such GPCs for structural applications. Thus Geopolymer based Concrete is highly environment friendly and the same time it can be made as high performance concrete. This paper presents a review of the literature, outlining the various research approaches undertaken in an effort to check the feasibility of geopolymer to Civil Engineering applications. The findings of these varying approaches are compared, and the different strategies employed are compiled and discussed. It is expected that this review will provide a key step in advancing the understanding of this innovative construction material.