Special Thanks to our Sponsors:

Xatico: Performance Minerals for Geopolymer Solutions

XATICO sells, distributes and advises on mineral materials, offering a wide range of carefully selected products from the world’s best production sites. Its large customer base in Europe covers many industries, including geopolymers. XATICO’s team of experts provides technical and formulation support, customised distribution, consignment stock and delivery services throughout Europe.

Geosil^®: Silicate binders and hardeners for geopolymeric systems

The Geosil^® product line are the first aqueous silicate solutions specifically designed for geopolymerization. In addition, Woellner supplies a wide range of additives to help you achieve your desired properties.

Keynote Conference in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2025
Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

38 min, 158 MB. Click on the CC icon to ACTIVATE SUBTITLES. Watch it fullscreen.

At the 17th Geopolymer Camp, Professor Joseph Davidovits delivers a special keynote to celebrate his 90th birthday. Instead of the usual technical R&D update, he shares the fascinating and personal story of how a tragic fire in the 1970s led him to invent Geopolymer science. He recounts his journey, the unexpected connections to archaeology, and the challenges he faced in establishing this revolutionary field. A must-watch for anyone interested in innovation and perseverance.

Chapters
00:00 – Introduction
01:16 – Part 1: How I Invented Geopolymer Science
01:23 – Early Life and Ambition
04:25 – University and PhD in Organic Polymers
08:50 – The Spark: A Tragic Fire in 1970
10:39 – Creating the First Research Company, CORDI S.A.
11:42 – First Scientific Papers and Introducing the Term “Geopolymer”
14:14 – Founding the Geopolymer Institute (1979)
17:20 – Developing Applications for Geopolymers
19:43 – Part 2: Geopolymer Science and Archaeology
19:52 – Debunking the Myth About the Pyramids
22:37 – A Key Question: Could Ancient Monuments Be Artificial Stone?
25:00 – Presenting the Pyramid Theory to Egyptologists
28:46 – Financial Troubles and a Surprising Media Breakthrough
32:07 – How Omni Magazine Led to a Partnership with Lone Star Industries
33:40 – The Pyrament® Cement Story and Financial Recovery
34:56 – Academic Career and Awards
36:26 – The First Geopolymer Camp (2008)
36:40 – Conclusion
36:53 – Happy Birthday Professor!

Geopolymer 3D Printing: When Rheology Meets Robotics
Keynote by Dr. Abrar Gasmi

45 min, 185 MB. Click on the CC icon to ACTIVATE SUBTITLES. Watch it fullscreen.

Summary: From a practical engineering perspective, you will learn which printing head and admixture work best, how computer simulation can accelerate development, which materials are best for printing a geopolymer slurry, and which selection criteria are most important. Finally, an LCA study will support the challenge of climate change. Dr. Abrar Gasmi thesis will be available for free download in the next months.

Join Dr. Abrar Gasmi as she details her PhD research on the multiscale optimization of 3D printed geopolymer ceramic, a key collaboration with Pyromeral Systems and the Geopolymer Institute. The goal: replace energy-intensive, waste-generating refractory molds—used for high-performance aerospace and motorsport components—with an eco-friendly, precise, 3D-printed alternative.

The journey focused on overcoming major challenges, including finding a printable formula and preventing layer collapse. Dr. Gasmi selected M88 metakaolin from temCon, feldpsar and Wollastonite from Xatico, with potassium silicate from Woellner, and optimized the rheology using additives like xanthan gum, also from Woellner, ensuring the paste exhibited the necessary high recovery rate for self-supporting structures. (All these geopolymer materials are distributed by Xatico in Europe).

A significant contribution is the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), a novel application for geopolymers, to model material flow inside a custom-built 3D printer and fine-tune parameters for reliable extrusion. The optimized process successfully printed complex prototypes that, after thermal curing, reached 34 MPa in flexural strength, and 36 GPa in hardness, surpassing the cast material.

Furthermore, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) confirmed the geopolymer 3D printing is consistently more energy-efficient and sustainable than traditional methods, marking a significant step toward greener advanced industrial applications.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Sustainability Challenge
02:28 The High Temperature Insert Mold Problem
04:31 Why Geopolymers and 3D Printing
06:33 Methodological Framework
10:55 Rheology: The Key to Printability
13:52 Numerical Optimization with CFD
15:54 Process Optimization
22:27 Developing the Custom 3D Printer
27:18 High-Temperature Formula and Optimization
33:39 Printing the Industrial Prototype (Challenges & Fidelity)
38:08 Sustainability Assessment (Life Cycle Analysis)
40:09 Conclusion and Future Research

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2025 spanned 3 days:

SPECIAL TOPICS OF INTEREST:
– Tutorial Workshop (short courses) for Newcomers, on Monday;
– Focused Sessions:
1- Celebrating Joseph Davidovits 90th Birthday !!!
2- Computer Simulations of Geopolymer Paste and Practical Application in 3D Printing
3- Nano-Molecular Geopolymer Chemistry, advancing new materials yet to be discovered

MONDAY, July 7: TUTORIAL/WORKSHOP

08:15-09:00: Registration to TUTORIAL
09:00-14:00: Workshop and tutorial with laboratory demonstrations (Groups A + B) involving 3 standard recipes.
12:00-13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch Group B
13:00-14:00: Free Sandwich Lunch Group A
14:00-16:00: Short Courses and Q&A
————————-

14:00-16:00 Registration to GEOPOLYMER CAMP

TUESDAY, July 8: GEOPOLYMER CAMP

08:30: Registration

09:00-09:15: Welcome and messages.
09:15-10:00: Keynote by Joseph Davidovits: State of the Geopolymer R&D, 2025 with special emphasis on recent developments.

10:00-12:05 First session: geopolymer molecular chemistry; raw materials, scientific investigations.
– Joerg Lind, Wöllner GmbH, Germany: Geosil – ready to use alkali silicates for Geopolymers.
– Carine Lefèvre, Xatico, Luxembourg: Metakaolins and mineral fillers in geopolymers.
– Richard Wyn Huws, Penygroes, Gwynedd, UK: Introducing the huge potential of slate powder as a geopolymer raw material.

11:00-11:30: Coffee break
– Joseph Davidovits: Nano-Molecular Geopolymer Chemistry, advancing new materials yet to be discovered

12:05 Second Session: 3D Printing

Keynote by PhD Abrar Gasmi, Picardie Jules Verne University, Saint-Quentin, France: Computer Simulations of Geopolymer Paste and Practical Application in 3D Printing.

– Siim Koor, Intelligent Materials and Systems Lab, University of Tartu, Estonia: Adaptation of Commercial 3D Clay Printers for Tabletop Fabrication of Geopolymer-Binder-Based Concrete Structures.

13:00 Free Sandwich Lunch

14:15-17:15: Third Session (part 1): industrial applications, building applications, eco-construction, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, CO2 mitigation, Global Warming.
– Cui Yuansheng, China Bulk Cement Association of Promotion & Development (CBCA): Progress of Geopolymer Industrialization in China.
– Erik Amesz, Adviesbureau NET, Cuijk, Netherlands: Biochar in Geopolymer concrete.
– BoSheng Liu, Feng Chia University, School of Architecture, Taichung, Taiwan: Utilizing Manufacturing Paper Sludge as Metakaolin with Engineered Biochar for Geopolymer Binder Systems.
– Mouhamadou Amar, CERI Matériaux et Procédés, IMT Nord Europe, Douai, France: Geopolymer application for concrete and brick technology.
– Alex Reggiani, GeoMITS, Italy: Geopolymer Draining Systems: Performance Flooring for Pools and Wet Zones.

16:10-16:40 Coffee break

– Chenmeng Zhang, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK: Geopolymer in self-sensing application.
– Jean-Baptiste Labrune and Marcelo Coelho, M.I.T. Cambridge, USA: Geolectric, Sustainable, Low-Carbon Ceramics for Embedded Electronics and Interaction Design.

WEDNESDAY, July 9 : GEOPOLYMER CAMP

9:10-10:15: Focused Session : Geopolymer and Archaeology

– Joseph and Ralph Davidovits: Presentation of the 4-year R&D project CUSCO-GP (Comprehensive Understanding of Stone Construction Origin – Geopolymer Project); it includes the 2-year scientific research project AGILE (Ancient Geopolymer Investigation and Lithic Experimentation) on the application of geopolymer chemistry and dating in archaeology.
CUSCO-GP is a joint research project between the Geopolymer Institute Laboratory (GIL), Saint-Quentin, France and the State University of Arizona, Tempe, USA, Prof. Don Seo. This R&D project is supported by the Athanatos Foundation (Brian Muraresku), Delaware (USA) and the American philanthropist Eugene Jhong.
– Marco Scalet, Calchèra San Giorgio, Valsugana (Trento), Italy: Geopolymers for Restauration of Ancient and Contemporary Arts.

10:15-10:45 Coffee break

10:45 Third Session (part 2): Geopolymer Concrete

– Ramon Skane, Reformix Materials Group, Perth, Western Australia: our experience with industrial by-products in the industry scale-up of Geopolymer concrete works.
– Venicius Sampaio, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Pampulha, Brasil: Scaling up geopolymer technology using different types of mining wastes.
– Abdelrahman Al Kuhaymi, Siefco, Riyadh, Saudi-Arabia: geopolymer paver block manufacturing facilities in Dammam, in combination with natural Saudi pozzolan.
– Frederic Thole, Kortmann Beton, Schüttorf, Germany: Industrial production of geopolymer concrete for use in electrical infrastructure.
– Jasper Vitse, Katlyn Caerels and Jiabin Li, KU Leuven – Bruges, Belgium: CDW-based geopolymer mortar with different binder-to-sand ratios.
– Miguel Otero et.al., AIMEN Technology Center, Spain: Optimizing CDW-Based Geopolymer Mortars for Additive Manufacturing.

13:05 – 15:30 Free Sandwich Lunch – Networking – Open discussions

– Groups – Discussions
– Materials Sciences + Products ; – Materials Technology & Engineering (+ civil engineering)
– Cements – Concretes (+ raw materials, adjuvants); – Sustainable / Eco Construction.

Photo Gallery

Special Thanks to our Sponsors:

Xatico: Performance Minerals for Geopolymer Solutions

XATICO sells, distributes and advises on mineral materials, offering a wide range of carefully selected products from the world’s best production sites. Its large customer base in Europe covers many industries, including geopolymers. XATICO’s team of experts provides technical and formulation support, customised distribution, consignment stock and delivery services throughout Europe.

Geosil^®: Silicate binders and hardeners for geopolymeric systems

The Geosil^® product line are the first aqueous silicate solutions specifically designed for geopolymerization. In addition, Woellner supplies a wide range of additives to help you achieve your desired properties.

Keynote Conference in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2024
Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

28 min, 73 MB. Click on the CC icon to ACTIVATE SUBTITLES. Watch it fullscreen.

In his annual keynote, “State of the Geopolymer R&D 2024,” Professor Davidovits discusses the evolution of geopolymer research, emphasizing recent developments in polysialate-based and alumoxy-based geopolymerization. He explains the detailed chemical mechanisms and structural formations from primary to quaternary levels and highlights innovative applications of high-strength 3D-printed geopolymer ceramics. This presentation, rooted in research dating back to 1976, offers a thorough overview of the current state and future direction of geopolymer technology. Whether you are an experienced scientist or new to the field, this keynote provides valuable insights into the unique thermal stability and potential extraterrestrial applications of geopolymers.

1. Geopolymer Science (00:00)
   • From primary to quaternary structures (2:45)
   • Alumoxy-based Geopolymerization (21:20)

Geopolymer Solutions for Lunar / Martian Habitats and Space Works
Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

21 min, 55 MB. Click on the CC icon to ACTIVATE SUBTITLES. Watch it fullscreen.

Explore the future of space construction with Professor Joseph Davidovits in his keynote presentation, “Geopolymer Solutions for Lunar / Martian Habitats and Space Works.” Recorded at the 16th Geopolymer Camp, this comprehensive talk delves into how geopolymer technology can revolutionize human settlement on the Moon and Mars. Professor Davidovits discusses the advantages of geopolymers, including their resource efficiency, resistance to radiation, thermal stability, and durability in the harsh conditions of space. He highlights recent reports from NASA and addresses the differences between true geopolymers and alkali-activated materials. The presentation also covers cutting-edge research on 3D-printed high-strength geopolymer ceramics, and the potential for utilizing lunar regolith and solar wind-derived water for construction purposes. Whether you’re a scientist, engineer, or space enthusiast, this video offers valuable insights into the innovative applications of geopolymers for extraterrestrial habitats and space missions.

1. Introduction (00:00)
   • Why geopolymers are excellent candidates for lunar habitats? (2:10)
   • Stability of geopolymers in a high vacuum (6:10)
   • What are the limitations and technical challenges? (11:07)
   • Solar-wind derived water on Moon (16:55)

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2024 spanned 3 days:

SPECIAL TOPICS OF INTEREST:
– Tutorial Workshop (short courses) for Newcomers, on Monday;
– Focused Sessions:
1- 3D printing: Geopolymer inks and Additive manufacturing.
2- Geopolymer solutions for Lunar / Martian habitats.
3- Archaeo-chemistry vs Geopolymer-chemistry.

MONDAY, July 8: TUTORIAL/WORKSHOP

08:15-09:00: Registration to TUTORIAL
09:00-14:00: Workshop and tutorial with laboratory demonstrations (Groups A + B) involving 3 standard recipes.
12:00-13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch Group B
13:00-14:00: Free Sandwich Lunch Group A
14:00-16:00: Short Courses and Q&A
————————-

14:00-16:00 Registration to GEOPOLYMER CAMP

TUESDAY, July 9: GEOPOLYMER CAMP
(preliminary schedule; Programme in progress)

08:30: Registration

09:00-09:15: Welcome and messages.
09:15-09:45: Keynote by Joseph Davidovits: State of the Geopolymer R&D, 2024 with special emphasis on recent developments.

09:45-11:00 First session: geopolymer molecular chemistry; raw materials, scientific investigations.
– Joerg Lind, Wöllner GmbH, Germany: Geosil – ready to use alkali silicates for Geopolymers.
– Carine Lefèvre, Xatico, Luxembourg: Metakaolins and mineral fillers in geopolymers.
– Ralph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute, Saint-Quentin, France: Tempozz  metakaolins: the best metakaolins ever tested for geopolymer.
– Ralph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute, Natural prompt cement from Vicat, substitue for GGBS slag ?
– Sima Kamali, Oulu University, Finland: NaOH Replacement by High Salinity Water to Prepare Geopolymers.

11:00-11:30: Coffee break

11:30 Second Session: Geopolymers for Additive Manufacturing / Geopolymer Inks/ 3D printing:
– Abrar Gamsi, Picardie Jules Verne University, Saint-Quentin: Update of the ongoing research project on 3D printing with Geopolymer Inks.
– Szymon Gądek, Nina Polivoda and Barbara Kozub, Politechnika Krakowska, Krakow, Poland: Geopolymer materials in 3D printing techniques.
– Miguel Otero and L.Freire, AIMEN Technology Centre, Porriño, Spain: GeoS2·3D Project; Sustainable Geopolymer Development for Additive Manufacturing Using Construction and Demolition Waste.
– Timur Mukhametkaliyev, scientist, Kazakhstan: Geopolymer development for 3D printing in Kazakhstan.

13:00 Free Sandwich Lunch

14:00-17:15: Third Session (part 1): industrial applications, building applications, eco-construction, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, CO2 mitigation, Global Warming.
– Alex Reggiani, GeoMITS, Prignano Sulla Secchia, Italy: Engineered stone – Sustainable and industrial case of using geopolymer technology to completely replace polyester resin and Portland cement to obtain new marble composite, totally mineral, VOC and pollution free,
– Vincent Claude, Buildwise, Belgium: Support of companies designing innovating geopolymer materials dedicated to construction with a technical, standard and field-related approach.
– Roohollah Kalatehjari, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand: Investigating the Potentials of New Zealand Volcanic Ash in Geopolymer Production for sustainable construction practices.
– Tarek Maassarani, Geopolymer International, LLC, USA, New Geopolymer Applications in the US.
– Gita Sakale, Primekss Group, Riga, Latvia: Prīmx road to net zero concrete slab.
– Aida Pedram, PadraBrick, Vancouver, Canada: Making bricks using coal refuse in Canada.

16:00-16:30 Coffee break

– Jan de Koning, BPN Innovatie laboratorium, Netherlands: Geopolymer Concrete with 100kg CO2/m3 emission.
–

16:50-17:15: Focused Session : Archaeo-chemistry vs Geopolymer Chemistry

WEDNESDAY, July 10 : GEOPOLYMER CAMP

9:10-10:30: Focused Session : Geopolymer solutions for Lunar / Martian habitats and space work.

9:10-9:40: Keynote by Joseph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute, Saint-Quentin, France: The advantages and properties of geopolymers for Lunar and Space materials: a discussion with AI (artificial intelligence Claude-Instant and GPT).
– Samuel Lucas, Stembert, Belgium and Orion Lawlor, University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA: Heat-weldable and vitrifiable lunar geopolymer concrete based on lunar regolith simulant LHS-1.

10:30-11:00: Coffee break

11:00 Third Session (part 2): industrial applications, building applications, eco-construction, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, CO2 mitigation, Global Warming
– Alberto Carollo, Ecobeton, Italy: Geoteria: Examples of industrial applications of geopolymer products.
 – Mikk Luht, Eestimaaehitus – Competence Center for Ecological Building, Estonia: Combining geopolymer technologies with natural building techniques.
– Jon Ender, Kodatek, Estonia: Onsite-produced ultralight foamed geopolymer for making houses energy efficient using industry byproducts.
– Jasper Vitse, KU Leuven, Bruges, Belgium: Workability and mechanical properties of CDW-GGBS based geopolymer composites.
– Guido Volmer, Metten Concrete Solutions GmbH, Overath, Germany: EcoTerra ZERO – cement free paving blocks for the concrete industry.
– Rodney La Tourelle, Berling, Germany: Betonwaves; a creative approach to geopolymer cement and recycled concrete.
– Ambilly PS, RWTH Aachen University, Germany: Fresh Properties of 3D Printable Geopolymer Concrete.

13:15 – 15:30 Free Sandwich Lunch – Networking – Open discussions

– Groups – Discussions
– Materials Sciences + Products ; – Materials Technology & Engineering (+ civil engineering)
– Cements – Concretes (+ raw materials, adjuvants); – Sustainable / Eco Construction.

To sum-up: Alkali-Activated Materials (AAM) are NOT Polymers, so they cannot be called Geo-Polymers. AAMs are hydrates and Geopolymers are polymers. Geopolymers are NOT a subset of AAM because they are not a calcium hydrate alternative (no NASH, no KASH). Geopolymer is not a hydrate, because water does not participate in the structuration of the material. AAM and Geopolymers belong to two very different and separate chemistry systems (a hydrate/precipitate that is a monomer or a dimer versus a true polymer). Those who claim that both terms are synonyms are promoting a misleading scientific belief. Learn why by watching these four videos.
“Non-activated geopolymers” are the only TRUE geopolymers that provide the excellent properties you are expecting. AAM kills polymeric reaction.

Get an official transcript of the 4 videos, including a DOI for official references and citations, by downloading the technical paper # 25.

Geopolymers vs. AAM: Understanding the Crucial Differences

33 min, 89 MB. Click on the CC icon to ACTIVATE SUBTITLES. Watch it fullscreen.

Buy the “Geopolymer Bundle” Video + Tutorial (click here).

Summary: Geopolymers are not Alkali Activated Materials (AAM).
AAMs are characterized by their hydration process and are not polymers. Therefore, they cannot be called geopolymers. Geopolymers, on the other hand, are polymers and not hydrates. Consequently, the terms NASH or KASH are irrelevant because geopolymers are polymers, not hydrates. It is a significant scientific error to claim that polymers and hydrates are similar. Attempting to create a polymer using the mix design of a hydrate will result in failure (cracking, shrinkage and efflorescence). Conversely, following the kinetics of a polymer when making a geopolymer will result in success.
There is no controversy. You have been misled by people who lack a proper understanding of polymers. You have been faithfully following and copying their wrong mixes and getting bad results.
Everything is proven with solid scientific evidence against fake science.

Video description: This video is an excerpt from a 3-hour workshop on geopolymer processing. Buy the Geopolymer Bundle (click here).
It addresses common misconceptions about geopolymer cements and explains why many attempts to produce geopolymer cements have failed to achieve the superior properties that are often cited in the scientific literature.
The presenters argue that geopolymers are not alkali activated materials (AAM) and highlight the fundamental differences between the two. They emphasize the importance of understanding polymer chemistry for successful formulation.
The video critiques common errors in the scientific literature, particularly those propagated between 2003 and 2019, that have led to confusion in the field. It explains why treating geopolymers as hydrates (NASH or KASH) is incorrect and provides evidence from infrared spectroscopy and the role of water to support this claim.
The presenters emphasize the importance of proper terminology and understanding, pointing out that geopolymers are true mineral polymers, not hydrates or precipitates.
This informative video aims to clear up misconceptions and provide a solid foundation for those interested in working with geopolymer cement, ultimately promoting a better understanding and more successful implementation of this innovative material in construction and engineering.

Chapters:

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:33 AAM are not GP
• 03:53 Geopolymer definition
• 05:06 Example of wrong mixing
• 11:58 Portland cement chemistry
• 12:57 Geopolymer chemistry
• 14:05 Wrong NASH and KASH terminology
• 15:42 Wrong RILEM committee definition
• 17:09 Water to binder ratio proves GP not a hydrate
• 18:35 IR proves GP not a hydrate
• 24:49 AAM are not Polymers
• 25:18 What is activation?
• 27:47 There is no GP activator
• 29:00 Concrete Society classifications
• 30:15 Designing Buildings definitions
• 32:43 GP is a polymer not a hydrate

Other videos

In his four recent keynotes at the Geopolymer Camp 2014, Geopolymer Camp 2015, Geopolymer Camp 2016 and Geopolymer Camp 2017, Prof. J. Davidovits explained why Alkali-Activated-Materials are not Geopolymers, or why alkali-activation is not geopolymerization. We have selected all the sequences that had been dedicated to this issue in the GPCamp-2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 keynotes. These new videos are titled: Why Alkali-Activated Materials are NOT Geopolymers. You will finally understand why they are two different systems.

Part 4 (new 2017): NASH / KASH is an invalid terminology

In 2016, a paper published by a group of scientists determined that there is no presence of NASH or KASH in geopolymer cement (see part 3 below). In this short excerpt, Prof. Joseph Davidovits explains this result by the true polymer nature of geopolymer chemistry. You will learn what true NASH and KASH are, and in which context they are actually used. AAM and geopolymer cement (wrongly shorten by some as “geopolymers”) are two very different and separate chemistry (a hydrate/precipitate that is a monomer or a dimer versus a true polymer). None is a subset of the other or its derivative which leads to confused interpretations.

10 min, 26 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Part 3: AAM are not polymers, so they cannot be called “geopolymers”

Prof. Joseph Davidovits emphasizes the fact that Alkali Activated Materials (AAM) are not polymers, so they cannot be called “geopolymers”. He presents what scientists are now writing about this issue. They now agree with proven facts that it is a big scientific mistake to use AAM and geopolymer as synonyms, and people shall stop doing so. Geopolymer cement is not a CSH derivative; therefore, scientists are now stating that applying the CSH terminology from Portland cement is not only inappropriate, but also calling them NASH and KASH is totally wrong. Those who purposefully use and propagate these misleading languages delude the understanding of the true chemical reactions that really occur (never a hydrate or a gel, but a polymer), resulting in confused interpretations.

27 min, 62 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Part 1 (2014): AAM are not geopolymers, two different chemistries

Prof. J. Davidovits explains the main differences between AAC (Alkali-Activated Cement or Concrete), AAS (Alkali-Activated Slag), AAF (Alkali-Activated Fly Ash) and Slag-based Geopolymer cement, in terms of chemistry, molecular structure, long-term durability. In a second part, on hand of the industrialization of Slag/fly ash-based geopolymer cement/concrete implemented by the company Wagners, Australia, he focuses on the results provided by the carbonation testing data obtained for ordinary Portland cement, AAS and EFC (Slag/fly ash-based geopolymer). The tests were carried out at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology RMIT in Australia. Geopolymer behaves like regular Portland cement, whereas AAS gets very bad carbonation results.

20 min, 46 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Part 2 (2015): Clarifying statement about all the false ideas and assertions

Prof. J. Davidovits makes a clarifying statement about all the false ideas and assertions written by several alkali activated materials scientists (incorrectly using the word “geopolymer” for marketing purpose in place of AAM) and blindly imitated by others. He explains why it is a true polymer with a well-known and understood chemistry (as opposed to those who claim it is a “gel” of unknown character), mentions the historicity and discovery of geopolymer chemistry, the real contributions of Glukhovsky and what he really wrote about geopolymers. He develops the range of actual industrial applications that goes far beyond cement made out of wastes…

29 min, 67 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Special Thanks to our Sponsors:

Xatico: Performance Minerals for Geopolymer Solutions

XATICO sells, distributes and advises on mineral materials, offering a wide range of carefully selected products from the world’s best production sites. Its large customer base in Europe covers many industries, including geopolymers. XATICO’s team of experts provides technical and formulation support, customised distribution, consignment stock and delivery services throughout Europe.

Geosil^®: Silicate binders and hardeners for geopolymeric systems

The Geosil^® product line are the first aqueous silicate solutions specifically designed for geopolymerization. In addition, Woellner supplies a wide range of additives to help you achieve your desired properties.

Geopolymer products manufacturer for the USA and North America
Website: gpi.earth

Geopolymer International is your geopolymer expert for the USA and North America. Engaged in production of a wide range of sustainable materials for manufacturing and construction based on geopolymer technology, as well as architectural concrete elements production and 3D printing.

Keynote Conference in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2023
Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

31 min, 81 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

In his keynote “State of the Geopolymer R&D 2023”, Professor Joseph Davidovits provides a comprehensive review of the advancements in geopolymer science and applications over the past year. He begins with discussing ongoing research into the fundamental geopolymerization process and new discoveries around acid-based geopolymerization. Moving into practical applications, Prof. Davidovits examines the development of super high strength metakaolins and how geopolymers can help mitigate global warming through their lower carbon footprint compared to Ordinary Portland Cement. Other timely topics covered include the role of geopolymers in sustainable water resources management and repairing critical infrastructure like roads and pavements damaged by floods. The keynote also talked about progress with 3D printing using geopolymer binders to create strong and stable ceramic-like materials. A highlight is providing details on the world’s first 3D printed house in geopolymer concrete. Lastly, Prof. Davidovits envisions future opportunities for geopolymers to enable more durable habitats for permanent settlements on the moon.

1. Geopolymer Science (00:00)
   • Acid-based Geopolymerization (4:52)
   • New Super High Strength Metakaolins (13:04)
2. Geopolymer and Global Warming (14:50)
   • Management of water resources (15:54)
   • Floodings and infrastructures (roads, pavements repair) (20:11)
3. Geopolymer for Additive Manufacturing 3D-Printing (22:01)
   • High-strength and Chemically Stable ceramic-like (24:04)
   • First house printed in Geopolymer Concrete (26:07)
   • Geopolymer Solutions for Lunar Habitats (28:45)

First house printed in Geopolymer Concrete in Las Vegas, USA
Keynote by William HOFF (Geopolymer International), Emmanuel ROY and Jon SCOTT (StrongPrint3D), Alex REGGIANI, Marina and Andrey DUDNIKOV (Renca).

23 min, 60 MB. Click on the CC icon to ACTIVATE SUBTITLES. Watch it fullscreen.

Two presentations are included in the video:

• (00:00) First Printed House in Geopolymer Cement, by William Hoff (Geopolymer International), Emmanuel Roy and Jon Scott (StrongPrint3D)
• Watch Jarett Gross (@automateconstruction) video: youtu.be/C-tnpkcXTuc
• (10:24) First Printed House – Fight Against the Nature, Alex Reggiani, Marina Dudnikova and Andrey Dudnikov (RENCA)

In April 2023, Geopolymer International, Renca and StrongPrint3D came together in Las Vegas, Nevada to pioneer the world’s first 3D-printed house made entirely from geopolymer cement. Despite the extreme heat and frequent winds in the Las Vegas desert, their teams worked tirelessly over several weeks, using large robotic printer equipment to layer the geopolymer cement to construct the house piece by piece directly on site. There were many challenges along the way, such as cement drying and setting quicker than expected in the hot weather. Adaptations had to be made like modifying cement mixtures. Heavy winds also disrupted prints on some days. However, through ongoing collaboration and adjustments to their process, the companies overcame these hurdles. Finally, they announced the successful completion of the fully 3D-printed house, proving the feasibility of building structures with this innovative method and opening doors to future sustainable housing applications using geopolymer materials.

Additive Manufacturing of Ceramic Type Geopolymer For Complex and Tiny Objects
Keynote by Abrar GASMI, Université Picardie Jules Verne, France, LTI – UR UPJV 3899.

26 min, 69 MB. Click on the CC icon to ACTIVATE SUBTITLES. Watch it fullscreen.

Conference presented by Abrar Gasmi, a PhD student at University Picardie Jules Verne in France, titled “Additive Manufacturing of Ceramic Type Geopolymer For Complex and Tiny Objects.” A. Gasmi discusses her research into 3D printing geopolymer materials, which are environmentally friendly ceramic-like composites. She outlines the challenges in robocasting or extrusion-based 3D printing of geopolymers. A. Gasmi explains how the rheological properties of geopolymer pastes must be characterized to determine their suitability for the 3D printing process. A variety of potential anomalies are explored, from flaws in the initial geopolymer formula to issues that can arise during and after the printing process. She shares insights on developing an optimized geopolymer formula for 3D printing through rheological testing and characterization. She highlights some of the promising results thus far in additively manufacturing complex, small-scale geopolymer prototypes.

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2023 spanned 3 days:

SPECIAL TOPICS OF INTEREST:
– Tutorial Workshop (short courses) for Newcomers, on Monday;
– Focused Sessions dedicated to 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing / Geopolymer Inks:
1- Geopolymer Inks for additive manufacturing of ceramic type geopolymer items, in the cm range. Experiences gathered in the Saint-Quentin Geopolymer laboratory.
2- 3D printing of a House: experiences gathered in the USA by Geopolymer International LLC (Las Vegas).

MONDAY, July 10: TUTORIAL/WORKSHOP

08:15-09:00: Registration to TUTORIAL
09:00-14:00: Workshop and tutorial with laboratory demonstrations (Groups A + B) involving 3 standard recipes.
12:00-13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch Group B
13:00-14:00: Free Sandwich Lunch Group A
14:00-16:00: Short Courses and Q&A
————————-

14:00-16:00 Registration to GEOPOLYMER CAMP

TUESDAY, July 11: GEOPOLYMER CAMP

08:30: Registration

09:00-09:15: Welcome and messages.
09:15-09:45: Keynote by Joseph Davidovits: State of the Geopolymer R&D, 2023 with special emphasis on recent developments.

09:45 First session:

Themes: geopolymer molecular chemistry; raw materials, scientific investigations.
– The need for a peer-reviewed, open access, online academic journal – the Journal of Geopolymer Chemistry and Materials, John Head, Geopolymer Industries, USA.
– Graphii Coat 30 GP, engineered graphite geopolymer coating, Alex Reggiani, GeoMITS, Prignano Sulla Secchia, Italy.
– Joerg Lind, Wöllner GmbH, Germany: Geosil – ready to use alkali silicates for Geopolymers.
– Carine Lefèvre, Xatico, Luxembourg: Metakaolins and mineral fillers in geopolymers.

11:00-11:30: Coffee break

11:30 Second Session:

Geopolymers for Additive Manufacturing / Geopolymer Inks/ 3D printing.
– Introducing a new metakaolin for the making of Geopolymer Inks adapted to additive /3D printing, Ralph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute and Laboratoire des Technologies Innovantes, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, France.  
– Geopolymer Inks for additive manufacturing of ceramic type geopolymer items, in the cm range. Experiences gathered in the Saint-Quentin Geopolymer laboratory. Abrar Gasmi and Ralph Davidovits, Laboratoire des Technologies Innovantes, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, France.
– The relationship between maker, machine and material: Creative investigation of geopolymer extrusion 3D printing, Lennart Engels, 3D Print Workshop, School of Arts, Design and Architectur, Aalto University, Finland.

13:00 Free Sandwich Lunch

14:000 Focused Session : 3D printing of Geopolymer concrete

– Geopolymer composites and 3D printing technology to create modern solutions for Lunar and Martian habitats, Kozub Barbara, Gądek Szymon, Korniejenko Kinga, Cracow University of Technology, Cracow, Poland.

– The First 3D Printed Geopolymer House: Experiences Gathered in the USA, William Hoff,  Geopolymer International LLC, Las Vegas, USA, and Emmanuel Roy, Jon Scott, StrongPrint 3D Construction Inc, Calgary, Canada.
– Renca-Geopolymer mortar for the first 3D Printed Geopolymer House, Alex Reggiani, Andrey Dudnikov, Marina Dudnikova, Renca.

15:45-16:15 Coffee break:

16:15 – 17:00 General Discussion on 3D Printing (Part 1)

WEDNESDAY, July 12 : GEOPOLYMER CAMP

9:00-09:45 Third Session:

Themes: industrial applications, foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment.

– Manufacturing of fibre reinforced phosphate geopolymer composites, Sathis Kumar Selvarayan, Deutsche Institute für Textil- und Faserforschung Denkendorf, Germany.
– Alternative applications of geopolymers in the environmental industry, Miguel Otero and Lorena Freire, AIMEN Technology Centre, O Porriño (Spain).
– Recycled coffee grounds and micronized rice husk GP lightweight mortar for casting tables and tiles, Alex Reggiani, GeoMITS, Prignano Sulla Secchia, Italy.

Fourth session 09:45-12:15

Themes: building applications, eco-construction, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, CO2 mitigation, Global Warming.

– a) Application of Dry Grinding as an Optimisation Tool for the Surface Area development in Geopolymer Cement Manufacture and b) Predictive optimisation model for geopolymer Cement production, Zvikomborero Lazarus Duri, Naveen BP, Rajesh Arora, Rajesh Goyal, Amity International Univervisity Haryana, Gurgaon (Manesar), India and NICMAR University, Pune, India.
– Performance evaluation of Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP) incorporated Geopolymer Concrete for rigid pavement applications, Ghosh Ayana, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India.
– The use of excavated soils into geopolymeric binders, Mouhammadou Amar, IMT-Nord Europe, CERI Matériaux et Procédés, Douai, France.
– Geopolymers as a Concrete Repair Material in Industrial Facilities Glenn Schaefer, Structural Technologies, Fulton, USA.

11:00-11:30: Coffee break.

– Development Of Semi Mobile Precast Facilities For Geopolymer Concrete Made From Chilean Copper Mining Tailings, Maarten van den Berg and Sergio Ascencio Letelier, VDB Ingeniería Circular, Santiago, Chile.
– R-EVOLUTION, geopolymer-based mortar for the production of eco-pavers, Alex Reggiani, GeoMITS, Prignano Sulla Secchia, Italy.

13:15 – 15:30 Free Sandwich Lunch – Networking – Open discussions

– Groups – Discussions
– Materials Sciences + Products ; – Materials Technology & Engineering (+ civil engineering)
– Cements – Concretes (+ raw materials, adjuvants); – Sustainable / Eco Construction.

Photos Gallery

Special thanks to our sponsors:

Geosil^®: Silicate binders and hardeners for geopolymeric systems

The Geosil^® product line are the first aqueous silicate solutions specifically designed for geopolymerization. In addition, Woellner supplies a wide range of additives to help you achieve your desired properties.

Pyromeral Systems: High-temperature resistant composites

Pyromeral Systems develops and manufactures advanced materials and composite parts for applications requiring resistance to high temperatures or fire barrier. Our unique technologies based on innovative geopolymers are designed for continuous exposure to temperatures as high as 1000°C. They provide convenient, lightweight and durable solutions for industrial processes, motorsports and aerospace applications. Pyromeral Systems brings a smart alternative when conventional composites, metals or ceramics fail to deliver the desired performance.

Keynote Conference in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2022
Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

30 min, 79 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

It is a review on what happened in 2021 and the first semester of 2022 on geopolymer science and applications. In his keynote, Prof. J. Davidovits developed following topics:

1. Geopolymer Science:
   • Fith edition of the book Geopolymer Chemistry and Applications (2:20)
   • Polymeric character of geopolymers (5:14)
   • Use of the inter micellar structure in 3D printing additive manufacturing (12:30)
2. Geopolymer and Global Warming:
   • Sustainable production of electricity (18:21)
   • Microbial fuel cells (19:38)
   • Solar power energy (24:19)
3. Geopolymer and Archaeology:
   • Update of research on Easter Island statues manufacture (26:26)

Breakthrough in Renewable Production of Electricity in Large Scale Microbial Fuel Cells
Keynote by Neven Ukrainczyk.

27 min, 70 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Conductive geopolymers as low-cost electrode materials for microbial cells. An anode of geopolymer / graphite was developed which provides superior electrical conductivity almost as good as pure graphite.

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2022 spanned 3 days:

SPECIAL TOPICS OF INTEREST:
– Tutorial Workshop (short courses) for Newcomers, on Monday;
– 3 Focused Sessions:
1- Conductive Geopolymers: Breakthrough in Renewable production of Electricity in Large Scale Microbial Fuel Cells.
2- Geopolymer concrete for Solar Electrical Power Generation.
3- Geopolymer science applied to Archaeology: Update related to the research carried out on the manufacture of Easter Island statues with artificial geopolymer technology.

PROGRAMME

MONDAY, July 4: TUTORIAL/WORKSHOP

09:00-10:00: Registration to TUTORIAL
10:00-14:00: Workshop and tutorial with laboratory demonstrations (Groups A + B) involving 3 standard recipes.
12:00-13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch Group B
13:00-14:00: Free Sandwich Lunch Group A
14:00-17:00: Short Courses and Q&A
————————-

15:30-17:30: Registration to GEOPOLYMER CAMP

TUESDAY, July 5: GEOPOLYMER CAMP

8:30: Registration

9:00-9:30: Individual messages from the participants (1minute)
9:30:10:15: Keynote by Joseph Davidovits: State of the Geopolymer R&D, 2022 with special emphasis on recent developments.; and  William Hoff, Geopolymer International, USA: Study Guide and Book Cover of the reference book Geopolymer Chemistry and Applications.

10:20-10:45: Coffee break

10:45 First session:

Themes: geopolymer molecular chemistry; raw materials, scientific investigations.

10:45 – Joerg Lind, Wöllner GmbH, Germany: Geosil – ready to use alkali silicates for Geopolymers.
11:05 – Carine Lefèvre, Xatico Performance Materials, Luxembourg: Metakaolins and minerals fillers in Geopolymers.
11:25 – Pierre Naproux, Sibelco, France: Minerals for Geopolymer applications.
11:45 – Milan Bouša, Lucie Svobodová, Petr Louda, Piotr Łoś, Baturalp Yalcinkaya, Vojtěch Růžek, Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic: Use of Plasma Incineration Slag as a Filler in Geopolymer Composites.
12:00 – Artem Sharko, Su Le Van, Nguyen Van Vu, Petr Louda, Katarzyna Buczkowska, Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic: Influence of Biomass Ashes from Selected Heat and Power Plants fillers on Geopolymer Properties.

Focused Session at 12:15: Conductive Geopolymers: Examples of applications. 
Keynote paper: Breakthrough in Renewable production of Electricity in Large Scale Microbial Fuel Cells, by Neven Ukrainczyk, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany.

13:00 Free Sandwich Lunch

14:00 Second session

Themes: industrial applications, foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment.

14:00 – Celine Boulet and Jutta Maaßen, Framatome GmbH, Germany: Waste conditioning and treatment for nuclear waste.
14:20 – Alex Neymark, Becq High-Performance Radiation Shielding Materials, USA: Metakaolin-based Geopolymer as Filler Material for Dual Purpose Canisters (DPCs).
14:40 – Israa Alhameedawi, Mazaya university College, Iracq: lnvestigation on Geopolymer Concrete Performance for High-Temperature Applications.
15:00 – Jose Vitorio Emiliano and Sergio Graniero Echeverrigaray, National Univ. of Singapore, Challenges and perspectives of graphene-geopolymer composites.
15:20 – Liliya Dubyey, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany: Role of carbon nanomaterials properties in improving geopolymers strength.

15:45-16:15 Coffee break:

16:15 – 17:30 Third Session: Geopolymer science applied to Archaeology:

– Joseph Davidovits: Update related to the research carried out on the manufacture of Easter Island statues with artificial geopolymer technology. 
– William Fiset, independant researcher, Canada: Architecture / Masonry of the ancient sites in Peru (a field report).

WEDNESDAY, July 6 : GEOPOLYMER CAMP

Fourth session 9:00 -13:15

Themes: building applications, eco-construction, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, CO2 mitigation, Global Warming.

9:00 – Baturalp Yalcinkaya, Milan Bouša, Petr Louda, Piotr Łoś, Katarzyna Buczkowska, Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic: Eco-Impact and Carbon Footprint of Geopolymers (Concrete vs. Geopolymer).
9:15 – Lateef Assi, Mazaya university College, Iracq: Review of availability of source materials for sustainable concrete.
9:30 – Francesco Volpintesta, Università di Camerino, Italy: Comparison between Geopolymer and Portland cements for Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) upcycling.
9:45 – Corbin Enz, Lorena Cifuentes, DBI, Denmark: Upcycling construction and demolition waste into new building materials.
10:00 – Aida Predam, Padrabrick, Ispahan, Iran: Geopolymer Bricks from Waste Materials.
10:15 – Mouhamadou Amar and Ali Alloul, IMT Nord Europe, France: High performance geopolymer mortar using waste products and calcined clays.

Focused Session: 3D printing of Geopolymer concrete
10:30 – William Hoff, Geopolymer International, USA: a recorded 16 min. video on the 3D printing presentation at the Wold of Concrete 2022 exhibition, Las Vegas, USA.
10:50 – Marina Dudnikova, Alex Reggiani, Andrey Dudnikov, RENCA Inc., Russia, Italy: Renca 3D Printing Factory – the world’s first industrial 3D printing with geopolymer concrete.

11:10-11:30: Coffee break

11:30 – Willy Jin, Navier Laboratory, École des Ponts ParisTech, France: Design strategy of a geopolymer-based mortar for sustainable 3D printing.
11:50 – Patrick Sonnleitner and Bruno Knychalla, Additive Tectonics GmbH, Germany: Geopolymers for the novel additive-manufacturing-method “SCA” .
12:00 – Nicolò Verardi, ReHouseit SRL, Italy: Ferrosialate geopolymer binder and 3D printing.

other papers:
12:20 – Jean Claude Gress, Ingénieur Civil des Ponts et Chaussées, Use of Geopolymer techniques for Public Works.
12:40 – Simon de Weerdt, SeahorseHummingbird Productions, Canada: A sunlit, south facing glass, Geopolymer concrete structure, within an enclosing solarium and garden.
13:00 – Nguyen Van Vu, Su Le Van, Artem Sharko, Petr Louda, Katarzyna Buczkowska, Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic: Railway noise barriers made of environmentally friendly materials.

13:15 – 15:30 Free Sandwich Lunch
– Groups – Discussions
– Materials Sciences + Products ; – Materials Technology & Engineering (+ civil engineering)
– Cements – Concretes (+ raw materials, adjuvants); – Sustainable / Eco Construction.

Photos Gallery

They prove the transfer of knowledge involving the man-made geopolymer stones found in the monuments of Tiwanaku/Pumapunku, located in the Altiplano, Bolivia, South America, to the manufacture of the artificial statues of Easter Island.

They demonstrate the relationship between South-America and Easter Island.

49 min, 148 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Content:

1. Brief history of the research undertaken since 1981. (1:36)
2. Summary of the results provided by our research at Tiwanaku/Pumapunku (Bolivia, South America) since 2017. (8:38)
3. What is the connexion with Easter Island? From whom came the knowledge?
 When? How did it happen? (21:53)
4. Scientific analysis! (34:32)

In this talk, you will learn for the first time:
Why do the statues of Easter Island exist?
Why do they have this unique shape?
Who invented them and why only on Easter Island?
Why some of them are different?
Why does it scream they come from South America?
Everything is based on scientific analysis and multidisciplinary studies that nobody connected before.
The genius of mankind…

Special thanks to our sponsors:

Geosil^®: Silicate binders and hardeners for geopolymeric systems

The Geosil^® product line are the first aqueous silicate solutions specifically designed for geopolymerization. In addition, Woellner supplies a wide range of additives to help you achieve your desired properties.

Pyromeral Systems: High-temperature resistant composites

Pyromeral Systems develops and manufactures advanced materials and composite parts for applications requiring resistance to high temperatures or fire barrier. Our unique technologies based on innovative geopolymers are designed for continuous exposure to temperatures as high as 1000°C. They provide convenient, lightweight and durable solutions for industrial processes, motorsports and aerospace applications. Pyromeral Systems brings a smart alternative when conventional composites, metals or ceramics fail to deliver the desired performance.

Keynote Conference in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2021
Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

50 min, 130 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

It is a review on what happened in 2020 and the first semester of 2021 on geopolymer science and applications. In his keynote, Prof. J. Davidovits developed following topics:

1. Geopolymer Science:
   • Fith edition fo the book Geopolymer Chemistry and Applications (2:00)
   • Machine Learning and computer simulation of geopolymer slurry (4:03)
2. Geopolymer and Global Warming:
   • It started in 1994 already (07:23)
   • Using fly-ash is to promote a mega emission of CO₂ that has been overlooked by experts (09:15)
   • Holcim releases the EcoPact geopolymer cement (10:56)
   • Granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) is going to disappear shortly (11:25)
   • Cemex releases the Vertua geopolymer cement (13:55)
   • Visit of the Toowoomba Airport in Australia made in geopolymer cement (15:20)
   • How Wagners in Australia built an Airport in geopolymer cement (19:10)
   • Kiran Global (India) second world-largest alkali-silicates manufacturer (21:57)
   • Passive cooling in buildings, a natural property og geopolymers (24:58)
3. Geopolymer and Archaeology:
   • South America and easter Island (31:15)
   • Summary of our studies in Pumapunku and Tiwanaku (31:25)
   • Journal of Geopolymer Science Applied to Archaeology (35:11)
   • Distribution of sodium and chlorine in samples of Egyptian pyramids (35:30)
   • Ancient geopolymers in South-American Monuments, Part IV(*): use of natural andesite volcanic sand (not crushed). (36:12)
   • Considering Certain Lithic Artifacts of Tiahuanaco (Tiwanaku) and Pumapunku (Bolivia) as Geopolymer Constructs (37:08)
   • They Came From America To Build Easter Island (42:31)
   • Easter Island: Vinapu Wall (45:20)
   • Two scientific analysis (47:15)

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2021 spanned 3 days:

SPECIAL TOPICS OF INTEREST:
– Tutorial Workshop (short courses) for Newcomers, on Monday;
– 2 Focused Sessions:
1) Geopolymer and archaeology.
2) Mechanically Activated Low Calcium Fly Ash for Geopolymer Concrete: the use of stored and dumped Fly Ash piles.

PROGRAMME

Monday, August 30, 2021 TUTORIAL

09:00-10:00: Registration to TUTORIAL
10:00-12:00: Workshop
12:00-13:00: Laboratory demonstrations  Group A
13:00-14:00: Laboratory demonstrations  Group B
14:30-17:00: Short Courses + Workshop (Coffee break 15:45-16:15

————————————————————————-

15:30-17:30: Registration to GEOPOLYMER CAMP

————————————————————————-

Tuesday, August 31, 2021, GEOPOLYMER CAMP

8:30: Registration

9:00-9:30: Individual messages from the participants (1 minute)

9:30:10:30: Keynote by Joseph Davidovits: State of the Geopolymer R&D 2021, with special emphasis on recent developments.

10:30-11:00: Coffee break

First session at 11:00: geopolymer molecular chemistry; raw materials, scientific investigations.

11:00 – Joerg Lind, Wöllner GmbH, Germany: Geosil – ready to use alkali silicates for Geopolymers.
11:20 –  Ralf Bohlander, BASF, Germany: Thoughts about Geopolymers” seen from a German raw material supplier.
11:40 – Carine Lefèvre, Xatico, Luxembourg, Metakalolins and mineral fillers in geopolymers.
12:00 – Max-Fabian Volhard, MC-Bauchemie Müller GmbH, Germany, Chemical admixtures for Geopolymer Concrete.
12:20 – Ralph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute, Saint-Quentin, France, Introduction to Ferro-sialate Geopolymers).
12:45: – Questions and answers on raw materials

13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch

Second session at 14:00: Themes: industrial applications, foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment, applications in Art.

14:00: – Joseph Davidovits, Ralph Davidovits, Christine Pelegris, , Matériaux Avancés en Geopolymère MAG, LTI, University Picardie, and Geopolymer Institute, Saint-Quentin:Standardized Method in Testing Commercial Metakaolins for Geopolymer Formulations.
–  Proposals for second standard: Standardized Method in Testing Acid Resistance
14:25: – Nguyen Van Vu, Peter Louda, Katarzyna Ewa Buczkowska, Le Van Su, Roberto Ercoli, Piotr Łoś,, Dorota Laskowska, Technical University of Liberec (Czech Republic), Improved geopolymer properties by FeO, NiO, and TiO2 dopings.
14:45 – Mattia Muracchioli, Giorgia Franchin, Paolo Colombo, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, University of Padova, Padova, Italy, High-shear Wet Granulation of Geopolymers.
15:05 – Nguyen Van Vu, Peter Louda, Katarzyna Ewa Buczkowska, Le Van Su, Roberto Ercoli, Piotr Łoś, Technical University of Liberec (Czech Republic), Enhancing geopolymer composites by recycled fibers.
15:25 – Le Van Su, Nguyen Van Vu, Katarzyna Buczkowska, Totka Bakalova, Lukas Volesky, Piotr Łoś, Petr Louda, Technical University of Liberec (Czech Republic), Geopolymer foam coatings applied by spraying.

15:45-16:15: Coffee break

Third Session 16:15 – 17:30: Geopolymer science applied to Archaeology

– Joseph Davidovits, Ralph Davidovits, Luis Huaman (geologist):
– Contribution of LTGS (Low Temperature Geopolymeric Setting in Ceramics) in the development of the Tiwanaku/Pumapunku civilisation in the Andes, Altiplano, South America.
– The hypothesis on the transfer of artificial geopolymer stone Technologies from Tiwanaku/Pumapunku to Easter Island statues.
– Efficient use of geological knowledge: 3 examples from present research in the Andes (Altiplano): red sandstone, volcanic andesite, weathered raw material, natural volcanic sand and volcanic tuff.

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Themes: building applications, eco-construction, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, CO2 mitigation, Global Warming.

Focussed Session: Mechanically activated Low Calcium Fly Ash for Geopolymer Concrete, the use of stored and dumped Fly Ash piles. 

9:15 – Review of several papers presented by Joseph Davidovits
9:45 – 3D printing of Geopolymer concrete
– Marina Dudnikova, Andrey Dudnikov, RENCA Inc., Russia, Geopolymer concrete as 3D printing material: advantages and challenges.
– William Hof (Las Vegas, USA), Marina Dudnikova, Andrey Dudnikov, (RENCA Inc., Russia), Alex Reggiani (RE.AL MIX and GP S.r.l.), Italy: Introduction to Geopolymer International, LLC, Development of Geopolymer Concrete 3D printing in the USA.
10:15– Frank Omloo, Catena Beton, Netherlands, Hydrostatic Equilibrium Moulding for the production of a geopolymer concrete shell structure.

10:30 Coffee Break

11:00 – Jean Claude GRESS Ingénieur Civil des Ponts et Chaussées, Use of Geopolymer techniques for Public Works.
11:15 – Ondřej Sarvaš, Wienerberger Building Solutions, Wien, Austria: The Wienerberger Group at the Geopolymer Camp: the interest in geopolymers with few project examples.
11:30 – Timur Mukhametkaliyev, Kazakhstan, Geopolymer technology in Kazakhstan: Development of fly ash/slag geopolymer concretes for the construction industry.
11:45 – Deepanshu Mangla, Mangla Redimix Pvt. Ltd., India: Geopolymer concrete pavements in India: An opportunity to scale up Geopolymer technology and fight climate change.

12:00 – Geopolymer Cement regulations and Standards: review presented by Ralph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute.

12:30 – Free Sandwich Lunch– Groups – Discussions

15:30 : End of GP-Camp 2021

Photos Gallery

Keynote Conferences in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2020
Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

53 min, 142 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it full-screen.

It is a review on what happened in 2019 and the first semester of 2020 on geopolymer science and applications. In his keynote, Prof. J. Davidovits developed following topics:

1. Geopolymer Science:
   • Fith edition fo the book Geopolymer Chemistry and Applications (2:15)
   • Metakaolin mechano-chemistry in pre-industrialized scale (4:28)
   • Ferro-sialate Geopolymers, Al³⁺ is partially replaced by Fe³⁺ (8:00)
   • Standards for Testing Metakaolin MK-750 (11:26)
   • Phosphate-based geopolymer (exothermicity and molecular structure) (15:23)
   • Long-term durability, Ancient Roman cement, recent study confirms our claim (18:40)
   • Geopolymer Fiber Composites, fire resistant door for aircraft cabin safety tested (23:10)
2. Geopolymer Technologies:
   • List of 35 real world geopolymer commercial applications (32:22)
3. Geopolymer Cements and Concretes:
   • CO₂ from coal burning in power plants is still increasing (39:10)
   • Using fly-ash is to promote a mega emission of CO₂ that has been overlooked by experts (40:50)
   • Forget about Fly Ash, go with Ferro-sialate geopolymer concrete! (49:05)
4. Geopolymer and Archaeology:
   • After Pumapunku, Bolivia, next project for Cuzco, Peru (49:52)
   • Need help from local peruvian scientists

Special thanks to our sponsors:

Geosil^®: Silicate binders and hardeners for geopolymeric systems

The Geosil^® product line are the first aqueous silicate solutions specifically designed for geopolymerization. In addition, Woellner supplies a wide range of additives to help you achieve your desired properties.

Pyromeral Systems: High-temperature resistant composites

Pyromeral Systems develops and manufactures advanced materials and composite parts for applications requiring resistance to high temperatures or fire barrier. Our unique technologies based on innovative geopolymers are designed for continuous exposure to temperatures as high as 1000°C. They provide convenient, lightweight and durable solutions for industrial processes, motorsports and aerospace applications. Pyromeral Systems brings a smart alternative when conventional composites, metals or ceramics fail to deliver the desired performance.

Keynote Conferences in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2019
Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

59 min, 140 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

It is a review on what happened in 2018 and the first semester of 2019 on geopolymer science and applications. In his keynote, Prof. J. Davidovits developed following topics:

• Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Geopolymer Institute, 1979 – 2019
• Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Geopolymer Camp, 2009 – 2019
• List of 35 real world geopolymer commercial applications
• Ancient Geopolymers in South-American Monuments, Pumapunku/Tiwanaku, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia.
• 3 Research topics:
  • Creating standards for Geopolymers (example of testing the reactivity of metakaolin)
  • Geopolymer Material for Radioactive waste, Particules and gaz pollution
  • Forget about Fly Ash, go with Ferro-sialate geopolymer concrete!

KEYNOTE “GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE: FROM LAB TO INDUSTRY”

by Marina Dudnikova, Andrey Dudnikov, Alex Reggiani, Renca, Russia:
Geopolymer Concrete: from lab to industry
3D printing with geopolymer mortar

33 min, 102 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

KEYNOTE “AUTOMATIC MIXING SYSTEMS”
by Dr. Alex Reggiani, GeoMITS, Italy:
Types of automatic mixing systems for geopolymer mortar / concrete production and 3d printing.

17 min, 41 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2019 spanned 3 days:

SPECIAL TOPICS OF INTEREST:
– Tutorial Workshop (short courses) for Newcomers, on Monday;
– 4 Focused Sessions:
1) Tuesday morning: Ferro-sialate geopolymer (-O-Fe-O-Si-O-Al-): red is beautiful and strong !
2) Tuesday afternoon: Geopolymer science applied to Archaeology: Ancient Geopolymer in South-American Monuments, Round Table discussion
3) Wednesday morning: New Industrialized Geopolymer Concrete, from lab to industry
4) New Types of Automatic Mixing Systems for Geopolymers

MONDAY, July 08: TUTORIAL/WORKSHOP

09:00-10:00: Registration to TUTORIAL
10:00-14:00: Workshop and tutorial with laboratory demonstrations (Groups A + B) involving 3 standard recipes.
12:00-13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch Group B
13:00-14:00: Free Sandwich Lunch Group A
14:00-17:00: Short Courses and Q&A
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15:30-17:30: Registration to GEOPOLYMER CAMP

TUESDAY, July 09: GEOPOLYMER CAMP

8:30: Registration
9:00-9:30: Individual messages from the participants (1minute)
9:30:10:30: Keynote by Joseph Davidovits: State of the Geopolymer R&D, 2019 with special emphasis on recent developments.
10:30-11:00: Coffee break

11:00 First session:
Themes: geopolymer molecular chemistry; raw materials, scientific investigations.

– Joerg Lind, Wöllner GmbH, Germany: Geosil – ready to use alkali silicates for Geopolymers.
– Virginie Soleil, Imerys Refractory Minerals, Clérac, France: The manufacture of metakaolins.
Focused Session: Ferro-sialate (-O-Fe-O-Si-O-Al-) geopolymer

• Joseph Davidovits, Red is beautiful, strong and durable: > 1400 years long-term durability (Pumapunku/Tiwanaku, Bolivia).
• Mössbauer spectroscopy:  Tomas Hanzlicek, IRSM, Praha, Czech Republic: Iron coordination in clays studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy, effects of the incorporation into the alumino-silicate chain.
•  Aminu Shinkafi, Coventry University, Coventry, UK: Microstructural characterization of calcined lithomarge geopolymer mortar.

Creating Geopolymer Standards
– Presentation of first standard: Standardized Method in Testing Commercial Metakaolins for Geopolymer Formulations.

13:00 Free Sandwich Lunch

14:00 Second session

– Carine Lefèvre, Xatico, Luxembourg, Mineral fillers in geopolymers.

Themes: industrial applications, foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment.
– Xuesen Lyu, GuangXi University, Naning, China: Applied Geopolymer research at GuangXi University: geopolymer reaction mechanism, geopolymer application in membrane, coating, microspheres.
– Laura Vitola, Riga Technical University, Latvia: Porous Geopolymers based on industrial by-products for water treatment and carbon dioxide adsorption.
– Hiep Le Chi, Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic: Evaluation of reinforcing efficiency of textile meshes in geopolymer mortar based composites.
– Anna Kavanova, Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic: Industrial application of Geopolymer composites layers.
-Young Lunde, Sculptor, Oslo, Norway: Petrification of plastic megaliths, an artist’s desire for the ultimate casting material.

16:00-16:30 Coffee break:

16:30-18:00 Focused Session: Geopolymer science applied to Archaeology

Artificial stones in Pre-Columbian monuments, South America.
– Joseph Davidovits, Ralph Davidovits, Joint research program conducted by the Geopolymer Institute and Universidad Catolica San Pablo, Arequipa, Peru:Tiahuanaco / Pumapunku megalithic monuments made of artificial geopolymer stones (Tiwanaku), Bolivia.
Round Table discussion: with the two members of the Sept. 2017 expedition team, Luis Huaman, geologist, Arequipa, Peru, and Ralph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute, France.

WEDNESDAY July 10 :

Fourth session at 9:00 – 13:00 … 10:45-11:15: Coffee break
Themes: building applications, eco-construction, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, CO2 mitigation, Global Warming.
– Wolfgang Marwick, NGO, Switzerland: Ecocity 3 – Sustainable buildings for deserted area (follow up).
– Shima Pilehvar, Østfold University College, Halden, Norway: Designing different geopolymer mixtures for construction on the Moon.
– Ralph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute, Saint-Quentin: Why did it take 30 years between invention and successful commercialization of Geopolymer Cement.

Keynotes (2):
– Marina Dudnikova, Andrey Dudnikov, Alex Reggiani, Renca, LLC, Russia: Geopolymer Concrete: from lab to industry and 3-D printing.
– Alex Reggiani, GeoMITS, Italy: Types of automatic mixing systems for geopolymer concrete production and 3-D printing.

——–

– Ramani R V, Argus Concrete Solutions, Chennai, India: Case study on Redmud – Flyash Geocrete products and Roads in India.
– Alfonso Pappalardo, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Sao Paulo, Brazil: 3 short presentations on geopolymer team works:

• High-resistance calcium-ferro-sialate geopolymer concrete produced with calcined waste sludges.
• Prestressed geopolymeric concrete sleepers.
• Structural reinforcement with CFRP and geopolymer resin.

– Fikru Bedada Waktola, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia: Calcined kaolinite clay / Coal fly ash-based geopolymer bamboo wood composites for light weight Concrete in Ethiopia.
– Donald Lake, Terra CO2 Technologies, Vancouver, Canada: A market-focused approach toward commercialization of geopolymer concrete in Canada.

13:15 – 15:30 Free Sandwich Lunch
– Groups – Discussions
– Materials Sciences + Products ; – Materials Technology & Engineering (+ civil engineering)
– Cements – Concretes (+ raw materials, adjuvants); – Sustainable / Eco Construction.

Photos Gallery

This study is also available in the GEOPOLYMER LIBRARY for free download. Go to #K-eng. Tiahuanaco geopolymer artificial stones

Contents:

• Extended abstract
• Introduction
• Part 1. Pumapunku red sandstone megaliths
  • 1.1 Geological provenience of the megalithic sandstone blocks
  • 1.2 Scientific investigations: thin sections, optical microscope. X-rays diffraction, SEM / EDS, scanning electron microscope.
  • 1.3 Discussion.
• Part 2. Pumapunku gray andesite volcanic structures
  • 2.1 Extravagant and puzzling structures.
  • 2.2 Scientific investigation: thin sections, optical microscope, SEM/EDS, scanning electron microscope.
  • 2.3 Discussion: which chemistry ?
• 3. Conclusion

The video of the Geopolymer Camp 2018 conference presenting all the results in detail.

“The Megaliths at Tiwanaku / Pumapunku are artificial geopolymers.”

61 min, 272 MB. Click on the CC icon to display subtitles in english, français, espanol. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen. Available on Youtube !

“Los Megalitos de Tiwanaku / Pumapunku son Geopolímeros Artificiales”

61 min, 272 MB. Click on the CC icon to display subtitles in english, français, espanol. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen. Available on Youtube !

This study is also available in the GEOPOLYMER LIBRARY for free download. Go to #K-eng. Tiahuanaco geopolymer artificial stones

Extended Abstract

The first results of this research were published recently in leading international scientific journals:

1. On the geopolymer sandstone megalithic slabs: J. Davidovits, L. Huaman, R. Davidovits, “Ancient geopolymer in South American monuments. SEM and petrographic evidence “, Materials Letters 235 (2019) 120-124. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2018.10.033, on line 8 October 2018.

2. On the geopolymer andesite volcanic “H” structures: J. Davidovits, L. Huaman, R. Davidovits, “Ancient organo-mineral geopolymer in South American Monuments: organic matter in andesite stone. SEM and petrographic evidence”, Ceramics International 45 (2019) 7385-7389, DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2019.01.024, on line 4 January 2019.

The study carried out on the monumental stones constituting the Pumapunku site in Tiahuanaco, Bolivia, proves that the stones are artificial and are not carved with unknown technology or by extraterrestrials. It is the human genius, intelligently exploiting the resources of its environment, who created these marvels.

Tiahuanaco, on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, is a village known throughout the world for its mysterious Gate of the Sun, ruins of temples and its pyramid. Archaeologists consider that this site was built well before the Incas, around 600 to AD 700. The site of Pumapunku is right next door with the ruins of an enigmatic pyramidal temple built at the same time. Because it is not restored and developed for touristic activity, it is less known to the general public. However, there are two architectural curiosities there: four giant red sandstone terraces weighing between 130 and 180 tons and small blocks of andesite, an extremely hard volcanic stone, whose complex shapes and millimetric precision are incompatible with the technology of the time. And for good reason, since archeology tells us that the Tiwanakans had only stone tools and no metal hard enough to carve the rock. But they would have carved the gigantic blocks of red sandstone (these ancient blocks are the largest of all the American continent!) and they were able to carry these hundreds of tons on the site, then to adjust them precisely. Also, they would have been able to carve other smaller blocks made of volcanic andesite, an impossible-to-carve stone with an incredible finish! Archaeologists cannot give any rational explanations on how this was possible. Therefore, for the general public, the assumptions generally advanced to explain these wonders are the achievement by a lost ancient super civilization or by aliens’ involvement.

In November 2017, the scientists gathered samples taken in the red sandstone and andesite from the Pumapunku site. For the first time, these stones were analyzed under the electron microscope, this had never been done before! They discovered the artificial nature of the stones. They compared the monuments’ stones with the local geological resources and found many differences.

Andesite rock is a volcanic stone from magma. It is composed mainly of silica in the form of plagioclase feldspar, amphibole and pyroxene. But the scientists have discovered the presence of an organic matter based on carbon. Carbon-based organic matter does not exist in a volcanic rock formed at high temperatures because it is vaporized. It is impossible to find it in andesite rock. And because we found organic matter inside the volcanic andesitic stone, the scientists will have the opportunity to carry out a Carbon-14 dating analysis and provide the exact age of the monuments. This organic element is a geopolymer based on carboxylic acids which was therefore added by human intervention into andesite sand to form a kind of cement.

The giant blocks of red sandstone raise another problem. Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed of quartz grains and a clay binder. There are several possible geological sources but none correspond to the stones of the archaeological monuments. No known quarry is able to provide massive blocks of 10 meters long. In addition, the local stone is friable and small in size. The scientists have discovered under the electron microscope that the red sandstone of Pumapunku cannot come from the region because it contains elements, such as sodium carbonate, not found in the local geology. Therefore, where does the stone come from? From hundreds to thousands of kilometers? With what means have they been transported? In fact, electron microscopic analysis proves that the composition of the sandstone could be artificial (a ferro-sialate geopolymer) and manufactured to form cement.

What is this technology mastered by the Tiwanakans? Artificial stones were formed as cement. But, it is not a modern cement, it is a natural geological cement obtained by geosynthesis. For this, they took naturally friable and eroded rock like red sandstone from the nearby mountain, on the one hand, and on the other hand, unconsolidated volcanic tuff from the nearby Cerro Kapia volcano in Peru to form andesite. They created cement either from clay (the same red clay that Tiwuanakans used for pottery) and sodium carbonate salts from Laguna Cachi in the Altiplano Desert to the south, to form red sandstone. For gray andesite, they invented an organo-mineral binder based on natural organic acids extracted from local plants and other natural reagents. This cement was then poured into molds and hardened for a few months. Without a thorough knowledge of geopolymer chemistry, which studies the formation of these rocks by geosynthesis, it is difficult to recognize the artificial nature of the stones. This chemistry is not a difficult science to master. It is an extension of the knowledge of Tiwanakans in ceramics, mineral binders, pigments and above all an excellent knowledge of their environment. Without the selection of good raw materials, these extraordinary monuments could not have been created 1400 years ago.

Finally, this scientific discovery confirms local legends that say, “The stones were made with plant extracts able to soften the stone.” This explanation has always been rejected by archaeologists because it made no sense. The evidence provided by the team of scientists from France and Peru shows that the oral tradition was right: they made soft stones that could harden! The hypothesis of the lost ancient super civilization or alien intervention is false. Tiwanakuans were intelligent human beings. They knew their environment perfectly and knew how to exploit the resources brought by nature.

In addition to the Carbon-14 dating analysis, further studies will soon be carried out to determine whether certain monuments in the Cuzco region of Peru have been built with the same scientific knowledge.

This study is also available in the GEOPOLYMER LIBRARY for free download. Go to #K-eng. Tiahuanaco geopolymer artificial stones

Introduction

Preliminary results on Tiwanaku / Pumapunku monuments were recently published [1, 2]. Some of their methods of construction have long been a matter of interest and speculation involving super-civilizations or alien intervention. Conventional theories suggest that the constituent stone blocks were cut from quarries sometimes remotely located, accurately dressed and lifted into position. There is currently little research being done by material scientists on these controversial topics. However, from a construction and building material point of view, the knowledge that can be acquired through this type of archaeological study is manifold. In particular, it generates examples that are useful for the determination of the long-term properties of geopolymer concretes. It helps understanding of the chemical transformation which a geopolymer matrix can undergo over a long time range (hundreds if not thousands of years), and provides data on the crystallization mechanism and mineralogical evolution.

For the Egyptian pyramids, in the 1980s Joseph Davidovits, who is known for his development of geopolymer science and geopolymer concrete [3], proposed an alternative, but still controversial theory [4, 5]. He suggested that the blocks were a type of early concrete consisting of disaggregated limestone from the Giza plateau, Egypt, cemented by a sodium or potassium polysilico-oxo-aluminate, poly (sialate) geopolymer binder, and cast into blocks in situ. Despite the strong opposition of the Egyptian government [6], several scientists published studies which confirm the presence of archaeological geopolymer concrete in the pyramids [7, 8, 9, 10]. Civil engineers generally understand the implications resulting from this new paradigm of archaeological megalithic monument construction.

We present here our preliminary research results on monuments in the South American Andes, on the Altiplano (Fig. 1), namely Tiwanaku (in Spanish Tiahuanaco). It is located south-east of the Lake Titicaca at 3820 m above sea level. It comprises an earthen pyramid and the famous monolithic Gate of the Sun, made out of volcanic stone, andesite. They were built 1400 years ago (ca. AD 600) by the Tiwanaku Empire, one of the civilizations of the pre-Columbian Americas [11].

Our research focuses on the less known adjacent site of Pumapunku. In 2015 the Bolivian government started an ambitious project aimed at promoting this strange and little-known site. Its official report (2015-2020, C.I.A.A.A.T) reads (English translation from Spanish): ” … the upper platform of the pyramid presents the most astonishing vestiges. Huge [red sandstone] blocks, the largest in the monumental area of Tiwanaku, lie scattered as if a large earthquake had devastated the area. The large blocks of red sandstone, mixed with fragmented doors in andesite, covered with carved decorations, is all that can be distinguished today. The ashlars with geometrical and symmetrical reliefs, perfectly polished are the silent witnesses of those majestic and important constructions of Pumapunku in the past”.

Fig. 2 is the tentative reconstruction of the site. The sandstone temple itself is very small. The platform on top of the 4-step pyramid of Pumapunku consists of 4 megalithic red sandstone slabs marked in red Nr 1, Nr 2, Nr 3, Nr 4, weighing between 130 and 180 tonnes each (Fig. 3), the largest among the New World monuments. In recent years, several reports and videos have been flourishing on the Internet. Some civil engineers state that the monuments are made of a type of concrete. Others claim that they were built by super-civilizations with unknown technologies. Our study suggests that the slabs are a type of sandstone geopolymer concrete cast on the spot. There are no quarries in the vicinity whence the megalithic blocks used in the monument could have been brought in.

One early Spanish conquistador chronicler, Pedro de Cieza de Leon, who visited Lake Titicaca on the Altiplano in 1549, marveled over the ruins of Pumapunku, wondering what tools could have been used to achieve such perfection (English translation [12]) ” In another, more to the westward [of Tiwanaku], there are other ancient remains, among them many doorways, with their jambs, lintels, and thresholds, all of one stone. But what I noted most particularly, when I wandered about over these ruins writing down what I saw, was that from these great doorways there came out other still larger stones upon which the doorways were formed, some of them thirty feet broad, fifteen or more long, and six in thickness. The whole of this, with the doorway and its jambs and lintel, was all one single stone. The work is one of grandeur and magnificence when well considered. For myself I fail to understand with what instruments or tools it can have been done; for it is very certain that before these great stones could be brought to perfection and left as we see them, the tools must have been much better than those now used by the Indians (….) Another remarkable thing is that in all this district there are no quarries whence the numerous stones can have been brought, the carrying of which must have required many people. I asked the natives whether these edifices were built in the time of the Incas, and they laughed at the question, affirming that they were made before the Incas ever reigned, but that they could not say who made them….” According to modern archaeology, the monument was destroyed around AD 900, i.e. 500 years before the rise of the Inca Empire.

The most controversial aspect of the Pumapunku site is, however, found in puzzling smaller items, 1 meter high, made of andesitic volcanic stone (Fig. 4). They have unprecedented smooth finishes, perfectly flat faces at exact 90° interior and exterior right angles. Historian architects are wondering how such perfect stonework could have been achieved with simple stone tools [13]. Our study demonstrates that these architectural components were fashioned with a wet-sand geopolymer molding technique.

Part 1:

Pumapunku red sandstone megaliths

1.1 Geological provenience of the megalithic sandstone blocks

Travelers mostly agreed that the sandstone was mainly from the Kimsachata mountain range south of Tiwanaku. Yet, it remained unclear how these megaliths were quarried and transported downwards with primitive sledges on steep and narrow llama tracks as shown in Fig. 7. The first scientific studies conducted and published in the early 1970s by Bolivian archaeologists [14], set out to determine the source of the sandstone employed to construct the Pumapunku complex. They conducted geological studies in 6 drainage valleys, isolating several potential sandstone quarries, totalizing 47 samples. With comparative investigations including X-ray diffraction, XRF, geochemical analysis, and lithic petrography, they concluded that Pumapunku sandstone came from the Quebrada de Kausani (geological site (1) in Fig. 6). However, our detailed study of their published chemical analysis contradicts this.

In 2017, we took this 1970 study to start our investigation and selected three sites (Fig. 6): site (1) Quebrada de Kausani, site (2) Cerro Amarillani, already studied in the 1970s but not selected, and we added a third site, site (3), Kallamarka. Why? Because there exist several archaeological records in the village of Kallamarka, which show that the village was in activity at the time of Pumapunku construction. It is therefore clear that this village could have been associated with the sandstone material extraction. It was recently declared part of World Heritage by UNESCO in June 2014 (see below).

1.1.1 Quebrada de Kausani (KAU)

The visit to the site number (1) Quebrada de Kausani starts from the Altiplano plateau at 3850 meters and climbs up to a place called Kaliri at 4159 meters above sea level. Official archaeology is claiming that they used the steep llama track (Fig. 7) for dragging their 150 tons megaliths down to the valley. This is difficult to believe.

On the plateau, at Kaliri, there are numerous quadratic sandstone blocks lying on the ground, but we don’t find any massive blocks. We have only small blocks (Fig. 8). American archaeologists [15] are claiming that these are the remains of human quarrying activity. Bolivian archaeologists are telling no, there are not! In 1970, they wrote: “typical process of disintegration by mechanical weathering (…) there were no actual sandstone quarries used by the Tiwanacotas, such as an open pit, work or gallery, but instead they went to blocks separated by diaclasis.” This is a geological natural weathering event. It happens that it is producing quadratic blocks, like in other sandstone locations.

1.1.2 Cerro Amarillani (AMA)

The site number (2) Cerro Amarillani is easier to reach by car and road. It is a similar geological formation. We have also blocks. (Fig. 9)

1.1.3 Kallamarka (MAR)

The site number (3) Kallamarka (Kalla Marka) is totally different. Callamarca is the spelling in Spanish. Kallamarka with “k” is the spelling in the local language. The entrance of the village is typical and is not found elsewhere (Fig. 10). It suggests an historical background. It is astonishing clean, with a road pavement made of bricks. In fact it pertains to the famous Inca track, Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System, declared part of the World Heritage by UNESCO, in June 2014.

We continue our trip on the earthen road by car and leave the village, climbing up and arriving at the site that had been selected by our geologist. There, we find individual sandstone blocks, but more interesting, we have a particular feature here, namely layers of weathered soft sandstone, good for geopolymer reaction, lying in between of the quadratic blocks like displayed in Fig. 11 left.

Our geologist undertook the following experimentation on the site (Fig. 11 right) (watch the video for details) . “As you can see: you can take a very simple tool, break the sandstone down in smaller pieces, very easily…; this could be a good material to make geopolymer stone. …yes, very easy. Even with our hands we can grind it down. It’s very easy.”

1.1.4 Taking monument sample PP4.

The Pumapunku monument red sandstone labeled PP4 and studied here is from slab No. 2. In Fig. 5, the sampling location is marked by a black dot. In Fig. 12, it is highlighted with an arrow. It is taken from an already ancient fractured place, on the edge of the slab, where several fragments had been selected and studied in the 1970s by the Bolivian archaeologists, see the sample labeled Nr 9 (circle).

Both samples (1970 and 2017) can be compared with respect to chemical makeup and petrographic analysis.

1.2 Scientific investigations: thin sections, optical microscope. X-rays diffraction, SEM / EDS, scanning electron microscope.

1.2.1 Optical microscope: thin sections

The thin 30 µm thick sections were studied under transmitted polarized light with a Leica 4500 DMP optical microscope. The results for sandstone are shown in Fig. 13-15; the thin sections are marked KAU (Kausani), AMA (Amarillani), MAR (Kallamarka) and PP4 (Pumapunku fragment No. 4).

1.2.2 Chemical (EDS) and XRD analysis.

The scanning electron microscope SEM / EDS analysis for the elements were acquired using a JEOL JSM-6510LV scanning electron microscope. X-ray diffraction spectra were acquired using a XD8 Advance “BRUKER” AXS (Siemens) spectrometer, calibrated and interpreted according to ICDD/COD international databases from 2013. The semi-quantitative results for sandstone are listed in Table 1: chemical composition (elements at.%) and XRD mineralogical composition. KAU has quartz SiO₂ and feldspar albite NaSi₃AIO₈, AMA has quartz and feldspar anorthite Ca (SiAIO₄)₂, and both MAR and PP4 have quartz and feldspar albite. We find additional minerals in MAR, namely calcite CaCO₃, kaolinite and illite clays.

In Table 1, X-ray fluorescence and SEM/EDS analysis show that the KAU sample has neither B (boron) nor Ca. Later values confirm the chemical analysis of the 1970s [14] in which for 6 Kausani samples, CaO = 0%, whereas for 20 monument samples, CaO = 1.45 (medium value). In Table 1, for PP4-global, Ca = 1.70. In addition, for PP4-global, Na at.% = 9.95; this is substantially higher than for KAU (6.67), AMA (1.56) and MAR (5.10). This value is important and will be discussed below.

Table 1: Element (at.%) and mineralogical analyses for Pumapunku red sandstone and geological sandstone. X-ray fluorescence data for B boron are taken from reference [14], after [1].

Chemical analysis, XRF, XRD analysis (Table 1) and thin sections (Fig. 13-15) suggest that KAU and AMA are dissimilar to PP4, i.e. that the stone material PP4 of the monument does not originate from KAU (Kausani) or AMA (Amarillani) geological sites.

1.2.3 SEM analysis.

The high amount of Na measured for PP4-global in Table 1 relates to the SEM image and EDS spectrum of Fig.16, showing authigenic albite NaSi₃AIO₈ formed after consolidation of the sandstone. In natural sandstone, after millions of years of consolidation, the authigenic albite results from the permeation of weak alkaline waters and dissolution of the feldspar. But this requires high pressures (between 3,600 and 5,000 m depth) and temperatures (100 to 150° C) [16]. Usually, these are big crystals. Here we have a very thin uniform layer. It could be the result of the self-crystallization of a polysialate geopolymer, Si/Al=3. Because, in a Na-poly (sialate) geopolymer-based sandstone concrete, the alkaline concentration is high, the albite formation and crystallization might occur during a relatively shorter time, namely through the 1400 years of archaeological burial. But, with our present knowledge, we cannot differentiate between natural authigenic and geopolymer albite.

1.3 Discussion

Kaolinite clay is one of the major minerals commonly found in geopolymer synthesis and the manufacture of geopolymer concrete. MAR sandstone is subject to weathering actions transforming the feldspar into kaolinite. It is readily disintegrated into small pieces manually as shown in Fig. 11. The kaolinite quantities (in the 7% weight range) detected by the XRD analysis for MAR are high enough to start geopolymerization, provided it is combined with an alkaline medium (Na or K).

But MAR also contains calcite CaCO₃, not found in PP4. However, the weathering action may vary from place to place. The Kallamarka plateau covers a large area and subsequent work on samples from this site may produce XRD spectra more similar to the present PP4 spectrum. This differentiated weathering action suggests that, in order to manufacture one of the big monument slabs, weighing up to 180 tonnes, the sandstone material could have been dug up at different locations, i.e., with different calcite content. Indeed, the petrographic analysis of the 1970s carried out on the four megalithic slabs found calcite in 15 samples, yet none in 5 others, out of a total of 20. For their two samples M9 and M12 taken in the same slab No. 2, the calcite content for M9 = 0%, whereas M12 = 12%. So, the calcite content is varying within the same sandstone block. Since our specimen PP4 was taken at the same place as the sample M9 of slab No. 2 in Fig. 5 and Fig. 12, our XRD result is correct.

In Fig. 15, the thin sections for PP4-1 and PP4-2 show the thick fluidal red ferro-sialate matrix labeled GP (white arrows) and detected with SEM in Fig. 17. To our knowledge, this feature is very unusual in sandstone formed geologically or at least it has not been reported in petrographic studies performed in the red sandstone of the area [14] [18]. The thick fluidal red ferro-sialate GP matrix displayed in Fig.17 represents a unicum and supports the idea of an artificial sandstone geopolymer concrete.

In Table 1 the Na content for PP4 global and PP4 matrix is also higher than the values for KAU, AMA and MAR. Therefore, in the assumption that PP4 is natural sandstone, it does not belong to the sandstone from the Kimsachata mountain range south of Tiwanaku. None of the analysis carried out on the 47 samples studied in 1970 contains this high amount of Na. Where does it come from? Sandstone with such a high Na content has not been located in the vicinity, so far. Therefore, if we stay with the accepted argument that the monument sandstone is natural, then, it does not belong to the region. Consequently, according to traditional archaeology, the megalithic slabs of between 130 and 180 tonnes, would have been extracted and moved from a geological site located elsewhere, far away. These giant sandstone blocks, the size of a house (8×8 meters surface area), would have been transported on primitive sledges downwards from a place similar to the KAU Kausani site located at 4150 meters altitude on a steep and narrow llama track as shown in Fig. 7. This is difficult to accept even though archaeologists have experimented with dragging small pillars (1 to 5 tonnes) on level ground.

However, if we accept the idea that the MAR Kallamarka site, which contains kaolinite clay, is the source for the monument sandstone, then an additional alkaline hardener is needed in the stone geopolymer slurry, for example the salt natron, Na₂CO₃ extracted from Laguna Cachi, a small lake (salar) in the Altiplano Desert (Bolivia). According to archaeological records, llama caravans went through Laguna Cachi. This suggests that the salt natron was exploited by the ancient builders of Pumapunku / Tiwanaku, 1400 years ago. The extraction of this salt has continued even in modern times.

If we examine all the aforementioned arguments, we come to the conclusion that the monument stone consists of sandstone grains from the Kallamarka site, cemented with a ferro-sialate geopolymer matrix formed by human intervention.

2. Pumapunku

gray andesite volcanic structures

2.1 Extravagant and puzzling structures.

We mentioned in the Introduction that the most controversial aspect of the Pumapunku site is, however, found in puzzling smaller items, 1 meter high, made of andesitic volcanic stone, the “H” sculptures in Fig. 4 and others like in Fig.18 and Fig. 19.

2.1.1 Perfect 90° angle cutting, very smooth.

They have unprecedented smooth finishes, perfectly flat faces at exact 90° interior and exterior right angles. How were such perfect cuts made with simple stone tools? They have a Mohs hardness of 6 to 7, like quartz and, even those archeometrics people who are claiming that these artifacts were manufactured by an ancient civilization 30,000 or 60,000 years ago, don’t have the tool to replicate them.

2.1.2 An archeologist who says we don’t know !

Archaeologists try to explain how such perfection could be achieved with simple hammerstones. However, one expert strongly disagrees. For historian architects, the making of the “H” sculptures remains a riddle which they cannot solve. Protzen et al. [13] explained their dilemma and stated: “(…) to obtain the smooth finishes, the perfectly planar faces and exact interior and exterior right angles on the finely dressed stones, they resorted to techniques unknown to the Incas and to us at this time. (…) The sharp and precise 90° interior angles observed on various decorative motifs most likely were not made with hammerstones. (…) No matter how fine the hammerstone’s point, it could never produce the crisp right interior angles seen on Tiahuanaco/Pumapunku stonework. Comparable cuts in Inca masonry all have rounded interior angles typical of the pounding technique (…) The construction tools of the Tiahuanacans, with perhaps the possible exception of hammerstones, remain essentially unknown and have yet to be discovered.”

Our long experience in geopolymer technologies suggests that these sculptures can be very easily manufactured with the molding technique. Wet-sand molding technique, i.e., the pounding of semi-dried geopolymer mortar inside a mold, would produce the very fine and precise surface as well as the sharp angles. Fig. 20 displays all the features of an item that was obtained by pounding wet sand in a mold. The weathering action reveals a dense skin (Fig. 20A), a very precise surface, clean, flat and dotted with small bubbles, the semi-spherical air bubbles which had been trapped against the mold (Fig. 20B). Another method is to first make a preform by molding, then carve the interior before it hardens, with an obsidian tool for example.

2.2 Scientific investigation: thin sections, optical microscope, SEM/EDS, scanning electron microscope

The Bolivian scientists who carried out the investigation in the 1970s did not perform any similar petrographic study on the andesitic volcanic sculptures. Nineteenth-century travelers had agreed that the andesite stone originated mainly from the volcano Cerro Khapia in the southern part of the Lake Titicaca [19]. More recently Janusek et al. [15] confirmed that the volcano was the principal source of andesitic material at Pumapunku / Tiwanaku. However, they did not perform a regular petrographic study. They relied on qualitative results obtained on volcanic boulders with a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, and not on quarrying remains. This explains why, in this preliminary study, we do not compare geological andesite and monument stone, as we have done with sandstone. In the absence of a geological study, we did not know where to look.

2.2.1 Andesite monument samples.

We mentioned in the Introduction that numerous andesite fragments, heaps of rubbles, are scattered on the site and abandoned. They are outside the protected monument area. By carefully choosing this debris consisting in fact of pieces of monumental stones with the characteristically very flat surface, we were able to get our representative samples. Samples PP1 A and B (Fig 21) are the most important for our study. The sample PP2 was taken at the corner of a broken door fragment and PP5 on the surface of a flat slab.

2.2.2 Optical microscope: thin sections.

In the thin section displayed in Fig. 22 we see, in white, the minute plagioclase feldspar crystals, the large amphibole crystals and pyroxene. In addition, we have black areas of amorphous substance that run across the entire picture.

Under reflecting light, the surface of PP1A shows white feldspar plagioclase crystals and dark elongated minerals which are typical for this type of andesite stone (Fig. 23). The surface is very flat, without any trace of polishing action with abrasive grains nor cutting tool, but dotted with small holes that are 0.2 to 0.5 mm deep with clear edges.

No. 1: plagioclase phenocryst on the surface;

No. 2: mica biotite single crystal on the surface;

No. 3: pyroxene-augite crystal on the surface;

No. 4: hole with hornblende crystals, pyroxene-augite crystal and amorphous matter (see description below);

No. 5: hole with minute feldspar plagioclase crystals;

No. 6: hole with pyroxene and amphibole crystals.

The surface of the andesite stone is hard, with a Mohs hardness of 6-7 (7=quartz), and the density is d=2.58 kg/l. [17].

2.2.3 SEM / EDS analysis.

Now we focus on hole number 4 (Point 4) already mentioned above in Fig. 23, with a higher magnification (optical microscope).

At higher magnification, in Fig. 25, we have a surprising totally amorphous element that resembles rubber, and is not like a crystalline mineral. Is this the amorphous matter already mentioned above in the thin section of Fig. 22 ?

Surprisingly, we are finding organic matter in a volcanic rock. This is unusual and simply contrary to nature. We can only conclude that this sample is artificial, man-made.

It could be argued that, since this is a SEM image that was taken from a hole located on the surface of sample PP1, what we had been measuring was the result of surface pollution. Therefore, in order to deal with this argument, we looked inside PP1A by cutting from its interior a smaller sample labeled PP1C. We obtained several spots with the same type of organic matter. Fig. 27 displays two of them.

2.3 Discussion: which chemistry ?

Everybody will agree with the fact that this organic matter suggests the presence of an artificial stone. So, first conclusions: which chemistry? It is not polysialate-based geopolymer like for the red sandstone megaliths. It is not the alkaline medium. If it is not alkaline medium, then it is acidic medium. And yes, this is acidic medium if we rely on the ancient legends that archaeology doesn’t take into account: “(…) una sustancia de origen vegetal capaz de ablandar las piedras“. Plant extracts capable of softening stones. This is what the local South American people are telling and reading.

2.3.1 Plant extracts capable of softening stones: carboxylic acids.

40 years ago, Prof. Joseph Davidovits met with a Peruvian anthropologist, Francisco Aliaga, and they decided to make one presentation at an archaeometrical conference in New York, 1981 [20], titled: “Fabrication of Stone Objects by Geopolymeric Synthesis in the Pre-Incan Huanka Civilization in Peru“. The excerpt of the Proceedings summary reads: “It is now agreed that the Tiwanaku civilization is modeled on the pre-Incan Huanka civilization revealed by an extraordinary skill in fabricating objects in stones. A recent ethnological discovery shows that some witch doctors in the Huanka tradition, use no tools to make their little stone objects, but still use a chemical dissolution of the stone material by plant extracts, carboxylic acids.”

One year later, in 1982, a scientific study carried out with the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy in Grenoble University, France, was published with the title: “The Disaggregation of Stone Materials with Organic Acids from Plant Extracts, an Ancient and Universal Technique.” The study focused on the extraction of carboxylic acids from plants and their degrading action of limestone (calcium carbonate). The conclusion of the study stated: “..the pre-columbian farmers were quite capable of producing large quantities of acid from such common plants in their region as: fruits, potatoes, maize, rhubarb, rumex, agave Americana (this is the cactus), ficus indica, oxalis pubescens.” [21] [22].

They studied the action of three carboxylic acids:

• acetic acid,
• oxalic acid,
• citric acid.

These carboxylic acids work perfectly with limestone. Limestone is disaggregated by these organic acids. It is very easy to prove and to measure their action. Any stone that contains limestone will be disaggregated but not volcanic andesite. It doesn’t work. This chemistry can only be used to fabricate a binder, which, as such, will agglomerate non-consolidated stone material (for example volcanic sand). So, clear-cut between limestone and volcanic stone such as the andesite.

2.3.2 We could disaggregate limestone, but we were not able to re-agglomerate, harden it.

Several people tried to discover the secret of this stone making. They were successful in softening the limestone that they reduced to a soft mass. But they failed to harden it again. This has been the reason, why, 40 years ago, Davidovits and Aliaga stopped their studies. They could disaggregate (limestone) but they were not capable to re-agglomerate it, to harden it again.

The appropriate knowledge was acquired very recently (2 years ago). It applies the basic chemistry dealing with Phosphate-based geopolymers and Organic-mineral geopolymers [23].

2.3.3. Research target, finding the hardener: the guano.

Where can we find, locally, the chemicals that will generate this chemistry? For sandstone we located the alkaline Natron in the Altiplano lake Laguna Cachi, to manufacture the big megaliths. For the volcanic andesite stones, we have an organic binder obtained in an acidic medium, and we are looking for the hardener.

Archaeology is providing diverse hints that are relying on several texts written during the Spanish conquest. They transcribe the explanations provided orally by the native people at that time. One of these texts is dealing with the guano trade between the Pacific Ocean at Ilo and Tiwanaku, going up from the sea level to 3800 meters high (Fig. 28). It has been discussed by J.W. Minkes [24]. The excerpt of the study starts with the site of Ilo on the Pacific Ocean and reads: “5.5.2 El descanso: El Descanso means the ‘resting place’ in Spanish. This name has been transmitted orally and refers to the traditional use of the site as resting place for the llama caravans on their way to or from the highlands via Moquegua…” According to the historical documents, the Moquegua Valley was the route taken by numerous Llama caravans carrying the guano gathered in large quantities at Punta Coles, Ilo, upwards to Tiwanaku. This trade [guano] appears to have been intensified during the Tiwanaku / Pumapunku construction, possibly stimulated by the need for more guano. The coastal [Ilo] population received coca, camelid wool, dried meat as well as llamas for guano transportation in exchange.

The guano is an excellent fertilizer but we think that this is not the reason why they transported it to the highlands. The Tiwanaku civilization was created before they exploited the guano. At Tiwanaku, they had already developed a very special agriculture known as raised-field system. The fields consisted of elevated, elongated planting beds, surrounded by water-filled ditches. The ditches contained aquatic plankton and small fishes which provided a natural fertilizer [25]. They did not need the guano, because they produced on site their own fertilizer. So, to claim that the guano had been sent to the highlands because they needed it as a fertilizer for the agriculture is not correct. This civilization was developed by itself. We suspect that this guano was not used in agriculture (the exploited quantities are much greater than what would be needed for agriculture alone), but rather, could be one geopolymer organic hardener. Indeed, it contains different chemical ingredients useful for that purpose.

Table 2 displays an analysis that was carried out 150 years ago by Mr. J.D. Smith on specimens of Peruvian guano [26]. It contains a high number of salts of acids, essentially ammonium oxalate and urate, calcium oxalate, ammonium phosphate and calcium phosphate.

Table 2: chemical composition of Peruvian guano containing essentially: ammonium oxalate and urate, calcium oxalate, ammonium phosphate and calcium phosphate after [26].

The action of vinegar (acetic acid) or any of the other carboxylic acids extracted from plants, on the guano, yields the formation of phosphoric acid and oxalic acid, useful in the production of phosphate-based geopolymer. The chemistry also involves the addition of alumino-silicate minerals such as finely weathered volcanic tuff, kaolinitic clay or perhaps metakaolin. New research on site is needed in order to determine which mineral was taking part in the making of this organo-mineral geopolymer binder.

2.3.4 EDS of guano compared with PP1 organic matter.

The EDS analysis of the guano sample from Ilo, displayed in Fig. 29, is similar to the EDS of the PP1 / point 4 organic matter (see in Fig. 25-26). The chemical elements are identical, yet, they are present at a lower concentration in the monument, which seems to be obvious. However, at the stage of our present study we do not know whether the PP1 organic matter is the remaining part of unreacted guano or the spectrum of the organo-mineral binder itself.

2.3.5 First conclusion.

The organic matter detected in this study suggests the reaction of an ammonium organic compound (the nitrogen N) from vegetal or animal origin, with minerals, to form an organo-mineral binder. The quantitative analysis of the nitrogen N cannot be carried out with our present equipment. We only got semi-quantitative data. The detection of Cl, P and S is intriguing and could provide some clues for further research. The builders may have transported non-consolidated volcanic andesite tuff having the consistence of sand, from the Cerro Khapia site. They added a type of organo-mineral binder manufactured with local biomass (carboxylic acids extracted from maize and plants), guano and reactive alumino-silicate minerals.

3. Conclusion

The thin section of a sample taken from the Pumapunku red sandstone monument shows grain boundaries made of a thick fluidal red ferro-sialate matrix. To our knowledge, this feature is very unusual in sandstone formed geologically. It represents a unicum and supports the idea of artificial sandstone geopolymer concrete. Complementary SEM/EDS analysis for Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Fe suggests that the Kallamarka site is the source for Pumapunku megalithic blocks. The megalithic slabs of between 130 and 180 tonnes were cast 1400 years ago. To make their geopolymer sandstone concrete, the builders may have transported finely weathered, kaolinitized sandstone from the Kallamarka site and added foreign elements such as natron (Na₂CO₃) extracted from Laguna Cachi, a small lake (salar) located south of the great Salar de Uyuni, in the Altiplano (Bolivia).

However, the most controversial aspect of the Pumapunku site is found in puzzling smaller items made of andesitic volcanic stone. Our study demonstrates that these architectural components were fashioned with a wet-sand geopolymer molding technique. The SEM study of this gray andesite shows the presence of organic matter (it could be the geopolymer binder). We have carbon, nitrogen, and mineral elements. The existence of amorphous organic matter is very unusual, if not impossible in a volcanic stone. It was also detected in the optical thin sections studies. It is a “unicum” and supports the idea of artificial andesite geopolymer concrete. To make geopolymer andesite concrete, the builders may have transported non-consolidated volcanic tuff, which is an andesite stony material having the consistence of sand from the Cerro Khapia site, and added an organo-mineral geopolymer binder manufactured with local ingredients.

Surprisingly, this study demonstrates that the Pumapunku builders mastered two geopolymer concrete methods, namely:

a) – One in alkaline medium for the red sandstone megaliths. This technology is familiar to modern material scientists and civil engineers, and is in line with knowledge of the traditional method of producing geopolymer concrete.

b) – The second, in acidic medium for the gray andesite structures, is based on the use of organic carboxylic acids extracted from local biomass and also the addition of guano. It has been successfully replicated in our laboratory with modern chemicals in order to test the validity of the chemical mechanisms involved in the new geopolymeric reactions.

In the absence of contrary evidence, the present conclusions are sound, and the Pumapunku red sandstone megalithic slabs and gray andesite sculptures are made of ancient geopolymers. This kind of study could provide data on the long-term crystallization mechanisms and mineralogical evolution of geopolymer molecules. In addition, the next step of our study will be to gather enough sample in order to implement Carbon-14 dating and provide the exact age of the monuments.

Acknowledgements

SEM data were collected by Mathilde Maléchaux at Pyromeral Systems SA. 60810 Barbery. France; thin sections were made at UniLaSalle-Geoscience. 6000 Beauvais. France. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

References:

[1] J. Davidovits, L. Huaman, R. Davidovits, Ancient geopolymer in South American monument. SEM and petrographic evidence, Material Letters 235 (2019) 120-124. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2018.10.033.

[2] J. Davidovits, L. Huaman, R. Davidovits, Ancient organo-mineral geopolymer in South American Monuments: organic matter in andesite stone. SEM and petrographic evidence, Ceramics International, 45 (2019) 7385-7389. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2019.01.024.

[3] J. Davidovits, Geopolymers: inorganic polymeric new materials, J. Thermal Analysis, 37 (1991), 1633–1656.

[4] J. Davidovits. X-ray analysis and X-ray diffraction of casing stones from the pyramids of Egypt. and the limestone of the associated quarries. in: A.R. David (Eds), Science in Egyptology symposium, Manchester University Press (1986) 11–20.

[5] J. Davidovits, Ancient and modern concretes: what is the real difference?, Concrete International: Des. Constr, 9[12] (1987), 23–29.

[6] C. Nickerson, Did the Great Pyramids’ builders use concrete?, The New York Times, April 23, 2008, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/africa/23iht-pyramid.1.12259608.html, (accessed 10 August 2018).

[7] G. Demortier, PIXE, PIGE and NMR study of the masonry of the pyramid of Cheops at Giza, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, B 226, (2004) 98–109.

[8] M.W. Barsoum, A. Ganguly and G. Hug, Microstructural Evidence of Reconstituted Limestone Blocks in the Great Pyramids of Egypt, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 89[12] (2006), 3788–3796.

[9] K.J.D. MacKenzie, M.E. Smith, A. Wong, J.V. Hanna, B. Barry, M.W. Barsoum, Were the casing stones of Senefru’s Bent Pyramid in Dahshour cast or carved? Multinuclear NMR evidence, Materials Letters 65 (2011) 350–352.

[10] I. Tunyi and I. A. El-hemaly, Paleomagnetic investigation of the Pyramids, Europhysics News 43/6 (2012), 28-31.

[11] A. Vranich, Reconstructing ancient architecture at Tiwanaku, Bolivia: the potential and promise of 3D printing, Heritage Science 6/65 (2018), DOI: doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0231-0.

[12] C. R. Markham, Travels of Pedro de Cieza De Leon A.D. 1532-50, Hakluyt Society, London (1864), 376-379.

[13] J.-P. Protzen and S. Nair, Who Taught the Inca Stonemasons Their Skills? A Comparison of Tiahuanaco and Inca Cut-Stone Masonry, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 56/2 (1997), 146-167.

[14] C. Ponce Sangines. A. Castanos Echazu. W. Avila Salinas. F. Urquidi Barrau. Procedencia de las areniscas utilizadas en el templo precolumbio de Pumapunku (Tiwanaku). Academia Nacional de Sciencias de Bolivia (1971) No.22.

[15] J. W. Janusek, P. R. Williams, M. Golitko, and C. Lémuz Aguirre, Building Taypikala: Telluric Transformations in the Lithic Production of Tiwanaku, in: N. Tripcevich and K.J. Vaughn (eds.), Mining and Quarrying in the Ancient Andes, Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology, Springer Science+Business Media, New York, 2013, pp. 65-97.

[16] N. Mu. Y. Fu. H.M. Schulz. W. van Berk. Authigenic albite formation due to water–rock interactions — Case study: Magnus oilfield (UK. Northern North Sea). Sedimentary Geology 331 (2016) 30–41.

[17] J. Davidovits. Geopolymers: Ceramic-like inorganic polymers. J. Ceram. Sci. Technol. 08 [3] (2017) 335-350.

[18] O. Palacios. Geology of the Western and Altiplano Mountains west of Lake Titicaca in southern Peru. Bulletin A42 (1993) 80p.

[19] A Stübel and M. Uhle, Die Ruinenstäette Von Tiahuanaco, Verlag von Karl W. Hiersemann, Leipzig, 1892. http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/digit/stuebel_uhle1892/0004, (accessed 10 August 2018).

[20] J. Davidovits, F. Aliaga, Fabrication of Stone Objects by Geopolymeric Synthesis in the Pre-Incan Huanka Civilization in Peru, Abstracts of 21st International Symposium for Archaeometry, Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York, USA (1981) page 21.

[21] J. Davidovits, A. Bonett and A.M. Mariotte, Proceedings of the 22nd Symposium on Archaeometry, University of Bradford, Bradford, U.K. March 30th – April 3rd (1982), 205 – 212.

[22] The pdf files of ref. 20 and 21 are in the Geopolymer Institute Library for free download, called Making Cement with Plants Extracts, at #C: //www.geopolymer.org/library/archaeological-papers/c-making-cements-with-plant-extracts/ .

[23] See Chapter 13 and Chapter 14, in J. Davidovits, Geopolymer Chemistry and Applications, Edition: 2nd (2008), 3rd (2011), 4th (2015), Publisher: Institut Géopolymère, Geopolymer Institute, Saint-Quentin, France, Editor: ISBN: 9782951482098 (4th ed.)

[24] J.W. Minkes, Wrap the Dead, Archaeological Studies Leiden University, 12, (2005), Chapters 5.5.2, 6.5.2.

[25] A.L. Kolata, The technology and organization of agricultural production in the Tiwanaku State, Latin American Antiquity, 2(2) (1991), 99-125.

[26] J. Towers, Guano and its analysis, The British Farmer’s Magazine, (1845) Vol. 9, 389-400.

This study is also available in the GEOPOLYMER LIBRARY for free download. Go to #K-eng. Tiahuanaco geopolymer artificial stones

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Keynote Conferences in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2018
Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

47 min, 130 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

It is a review on what happened in 2017 and the first semester of 2018 on geopolymer science and applications. In his keynote, Prof. J. Davidovits developed following topics:

• Celebrating the 10th Geopolymer Camp
• Geopolymer in the global economy
• List of 35 real world geopolymer commercial applications
• 3 Research topics:
  • Geopolymer with acidic medium
  • Geopolymer as a Nano materials
  • Computer science proves the polymeric characteristics of geopolymers
• Ancient geopolymers in South American monuments: exploring the sites of Tiwanaku and Pumapunku in Bolivia

KEYNOTE “GEOPOLYMER AS A NANO MATERIAL”
by PROF. Dong-Kyun Seo, School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA:
Nanoaggregates synthesis from low temperature geopolymerization process.

28 min, 66 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

KEYNOTE “NANO MATERIALS IN GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE”
by Dr. Tomi Nissinen, Nano and Advanced Materials Institute, Hong Kong:
Production of geopolymer foam with addition of nanoparticles.

27 min, 65 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

FOCUS ON “3D PRINTING OF GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE”
by Marina Dudnikova, Andrey Dudnikov, Alex Reggiani, Renca, Russia:
State of construction 3D printing. Geopolymer concrete application on the real scale project in the Extreme North

19 min, 53 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2018 spanned 3 days:

Special topics of interest:
– Tutorial Workshop (short courses) for Newcomers, on Monday;
– Focused Session on Reinforced Geopolymer Composites, on Tuesday afternoon:
Monday, July 9: Tutorial
09:00-10:00: Registration to TUTORIAL
10:00-13:00: Workshop and tutorial with laboratory demonstrations involving 3 standard recipes.
13:00-14:00: Sandwich Lunch
14:00-17:00: Short Courses and Q&A
15:30-17:30: Registration to GEOPOLYMER CAMP

Tuesday, July 10 :GEOPOLYMER CAMP

8:30: Registration
9:00-9:30: Individual messages from the participants (1minute)
9:30:10:30: Keynote by Joseph Davidovits: State of the Geopolymer R&D, 2018 with special emphasis on recent developments.
10:30-11:00: Coffee break

First session: at 11:00
Themes: geopolymer molecular chemistry; raw materials, scientific investigations.

– Martin Leute, Wöllner GmbH, Germany/Austria Geosil – ready to use alkali silicates for Geopolymers.
– Virginie Soleil, Imerys Refractory Minerals, Clérac, France, The manufacture of metakaolins.
– Ferenc Kistály, University of Miskolc, Hungary, X-ray powder diffraction experiences on geopolymers, on the border of nanocrystalline and amorphous materials.
Phosphate-based geopolymers
– Joseph Davidovits, Review of recent publications on phosphate-based geopolymers.
– C. Rüscher, Hannover University, Germany, Metakaolin-phosphate based geopolymers.
– Ralph Davidovits, LTI-EA 3899, University Picardie, and Geopolymer Institute, Saint-Quentin, France, Reactivity test of Metakaolin-phosphate based geopolymers.

13:00 Free Sandwich Lunch

Second session at 14:00:
Themes: industrial applications, foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment.

14:00-15:45 Focused Session on Nano materials in geopolymer technologies
– 2 Keynotes:
– Dong-Kyun Seo, School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA, Nanoaggregates synthesis from low temperature geopolymerization process,
– Tomi P. B. Nissinen, Nano and Advanced Materials Institute Ltd, Hong Kong, Production of geopolymer foam with addition of nanoparticles.

Additional presentation:
– Petr Louda, TU Liberec, Czech Republic, Nanomaterials in geopolymers.

15:45-16:15: Coffee break

Third session: Ancient Technologies.
– Dominique Bruch, Avenso, Israel, On the origins of ancient geopolymer materials in the Dead Sea valley.
– Joseph Davidovits, Joint research program conducted by the Geopolymer Institute and Universitad Catolica San Pablo, Arequipa, Peru, First scientific results on Tiahuanaco / Pumapunku megalithic monuments (Tiwanaku), Bolivia.

Wednesday July 12 :

Fourth session from 9:00 to 13:00
Themes: building applications, eco-construction, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, CO2 mitigation, Global Warming.
– Ralph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute, Saint-Quentin, Why did it take 30 years between invention and successful commercialization of Geopolymer Cement.
– Gábor Mucsi, Roland Szabó, Ferenc Kistály, University of Miskolc, Hungary, Preparation of geopolymer raw materials and its effect on the final product.
– Binyu Zhang, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hon Kong, Fire Resistance Properties of Waste Glass Incorporated Geopolymer Mortar.
– Marianne Saba, University of Balamand, Lebanon, Compressive strength of geopolymer mortars involving metakaolin, silica fume, silica and municipal waste bottom Ash.
– Hyeong-Yeol Kim , Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, South-Korea, Rehabilitation of Concrete Sewer Pipes Using Geopolymer Mortar and Textile Reinforcement.
– Kinga Korniejenko, Cracow University of Technology, Poland, An Overview of Natural Fibres Reinforced Geopolymer Composites
– Jos Conil, Habitat Technology Group, India, Potential for LTGS technology in India.
– Mervi Matilainen, Apila Group Ltd., Finland, Project: Urban Infra Revolution, Developing a clean, safe and renewable city.

Keynote: 3D printing
– Marina Dudnikova, Andrey Dudnikov, Alex Reggiani, Renca, LLC, Russia, State of construction 3D printing. Geopolymer concrete application on the real scale project in the Extreme North.

13:00 Free Sandwich Lunch
– Groups – Discussions  until 15:30
– Materials Sciences + Products ; – Materials Technology & Engineering (+ civil engineering)
– Cements – Concretes (+ raw materials, adjuvants); – Sustainable / Eco Construction

Photos Gallery

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High Temperature Composites

Keynote Conferences in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2017
Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

1 hour 11 min, 195 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

It is a review on what happened in 2016 and the first semester of 2017 on geopolymer science and applications. In his keynote, Prof. J. Davidovits developed following topics:

1) Geopolymer science

• From Theory to Global Industrialization with an exclusive list of 33 Real World Commercial Applications that are commercially available
• Warning about fake geopolymer conferences
• Part 4 of Davidovits’ campaign “why alkali-activated materials are not geopolymers?”
• Legal and Patent issue against BASF.
• Metakaolin MK-750, Chemical Reactivity

2) Geopolymer technologies

• Introduction to Geopolymer Route to High-Temperature Ceramics
• Geopolymer Composites (with a special session at the Geopolymer Camp)

3) Geopolymer Cements / Concretes

• Problems with slag GGBS
• Self-Healing geopolymer cements
• How to control setting time
• The invalid NASH / KASH terminology

4) Geopolymer and archaeology

• Non-destructive analysis on 11 Egyptian blue faience tiles from the 2nd and 3rd Dynasties
• Manufacturing Djoser’s faience tiles at temperatures as low as 250°C

KEYNOTE “HIGH-TECH GEOPOLYMER CERAMIC”
by W. M. Kriven, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA:
The Geopolymer Route to High Tech Ceramic.

43 min, 110 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

KEYNOTE “GEOPOLYMER COMPOSITES”
by W. M. Kriven, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA:
Natural Fiber Reinforced Geopolymer Composites.

20 min, 51 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

KEYNOTE “GEOPOLYMER COMPOSITES”
by Jingkun Yuan, Institute for Advanced Ceramics, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin, China:
Recent Development on the Graphene Reinforced Geopolymer Composites.

21 min, 49 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2017 spanned 3 days:

Special topics of interest:
– Tutorial Workshop (short courses) for Newcomers, on Monday;
– Focused Session on Reinforced Geopolymer Composites, on Tuesday afternoon:
Monday, July 10: Tutorial
09:00-10:00: Registration to TUTORIAL
10:00-13:00: Workshop and tutorial with laboratory demonstrations involving 3 standard recipes.
13:00-14:00: Sandwich Lunch
14:00-17:00: Short Courses and Q&A
15:30-17:30: Registration to GEOPOLYMER CAMP

Tuesday, July 11 :GEOPOLYMER CAMP

8:30: Registration
9:00-9:30: Individual messages from the participants (1minute)
9:30:10:30: Keynote by Joseph Davidovits: State of the Geopolymer R&D, 2017 with special emphasis on recent developments.
10:30-11:00: Coffee break

First session: at 11:00
Themes: geopolymer molecular chemistry; raw materials, scientific investigations.

– 2 Keynotes:
– Waltraud Kriven, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, USA: The Geopolymer Route to High-tech Ceramics.
– Jingkun Yuan, Peigang He, Dechang Ja, Harbin Institute of Technology, China, Leucite/Graphene-Ceramic Composite, the Geopolymer route. (recorded video)

– Thorsten Langer, Wöllner GmbH, Germany., Geosil – ready to use alkali silicates for Geopolymers.
– Virginie Soleil, Imerys Refractory Minerals, Clérac, France, The manufacture of metakaolins.
– Nasir Shafiq, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia, Enhanced Piezo-resistive and self-sensing response of geopolymer using hybrid nanoplatelets.
– Mukhallad Al-Mashhadani, Yildil Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey / Iraq, Technical Notes on Geopolymer Binders: laboratory experiments regarding different factors.

13:00 Free Sandwich Lunch

14:00-17:30:
Focused Session : Reinforced Geopolymer Composites

– Keynote by  Waltraud Kriven, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, USA: Natural fiber reinforced geopolymer composites.

– Kinga Korniejenko, Cracow University Of Technology, Poland, Development of eco-friendly composite materials based on geopolymer matrix and reinforced with waste fibers.
– Pham Vo Anh Khoa, Laboratory of Concrete and Earthquake Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, South Korea, Comparison mechanical properties of hooked end steel fiber and polypropylene fiber reinforced fly ash geopolymer concrete.

– Second session at 15:30
Themes: industrial applications (foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment)
– R. Davidovits and Christine Pelegris, MAG team (Matériaux Avancés en Géopolymères) at the LTI Laboratory, Picardie Jules Verne University, Geopolymer Institute, Saint-Quentin, Pragmatic approach in designing high-performance MK-750-based geopolymers Poly(sialate-siloxo) type K-PSS binder. From theory to practice.

16:00-16:30: Coffee break

–  Totka Bakalova, Petr Louda, TU Liberec, Czech Republic, Application of geopolymer as a fire protection of wooden buildings using foamed geopolymer composite.
– Geopolymer Institute: some videos on industrial applications.

Wednesday July 12 :

at 9:00 – 13:00

Third session: Ancient Technologies.
– Frederic Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute, Ancient Roman Cement: rapid setting.

Fourth session 
Themes: building applications, eco-construction, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, CO2 mitigation, Global Warming.
– Alex Reggiani, GeoMITS, Italy, Renca LLC, Russia, Innovative 2017 Geopolymer products prepared with automatic industrial mixers
– Andrey Dudnikov, Marina Dudnikova, Renca, LLC, Russia, Geopolymer concrete and 3D printing – disrupting construction industry.
– Nguyen Tan Khoa, Sejong University, Seoul, South Korea, Translucent geopolymer concrete: a new target of construction materials.
– Dario Santacroce, The project “Monotith“, monumental geopolymer stone structure.

 10:45-11:15: Coffee break

– Shima Pilehvar, Østfold University College, Norway, First Results on mechanical properties of geopolymer concrete with incorporated micro-encapsulated phase change materials,
– Fadhil Nuruddin, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia,Sidoarjo Mud as base material for Geopolymer concrete.
– Fernando Castro, Universidade do Minho, Portugal, Employment of sodium aluminate waste solutions for the processing of fly-ash based geopolymers containing industrial wastes.
– Norkhairunnisa Mazlan, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Thermal stability and water absorption analysis of geopolymer based on rice husk ash and fire performance of geopolymer based rice husk ash/kaolin.
– Jörg Rathenow, Sinnotec Innovation Consulting GmbH, Germany, Easy to apply geopolymer floor coating as design floors.
– Matteo Baldassari, Concr3de, Netherlands, Additive manufacturing for Geopolymer concrete.
– Aida Pedram, Isfahan Science and Technology, Iran, Manufacturing bricks with geopolymer.
– Asmaa Kaddami, Laboratoire Navier, France, Elaboration and study of the functional properties of geopolymer foams.

13:00 Free Sandwich Lunch
– Groups – Discussions  until 15:30
– Materials Sciences + Products ; – Materials Technology & Engineering (+ civil engineering)
– Cements – Concretes (+ raw materials, adjuvants); – Sustainable / Eco Construction

Photos Gallery

Special thanks to our sponsor: AVENSO (Avenir Energies Solutions) with Dominique BRUCH

Keynote Conferences in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2016
Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

58 min, 160 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

It is a review on what happened in 2015 and the first semester of 2016 on geopolymer science and applications. In his keynote, Prof. J. Davidovits developed following topics:

1) Geopolymer science

• The purpose of the Geopolymer Camp: people meet together and develop new applications
• Report on Geopolymer WEBINARs 2016: The basics of geopolymer science with a special focus on cement and concrete
• Part 3 of Davidovits’ campaign “why alkali-activated materials are not geopolymers?”
• What scientists are now writing about this issue.

2) Geopolymer technologies

• Introduction to 3D-Printing with geopolymer binders (with a special session at the Geopolymer Camp)

3) Geopolymer Cements / Concretes

• Davidovits’ visit to the geopolymer concrete airport at Toowoomba, Australia
• Davidovits’ visit to the geopolymer concrete building at Brisbane, Australia
• False CO₂ values published in scientific papers

KEYNOTE “HIGH-TECH GEOPOLYMER CERAMIC”
by Giorgia Franchin et al., University of Padova, Italy:
Direct and indirect 3D printing with geopolymers.

27 min, 63 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

KEYNOTE “TRUE GEOPOLYMER CEMENT FOR MASS PRODUCTION”
By Ramani R V, Kiran Global Chems, India:
Practical issues in the commercialization of geopolymer cement GEOCEMENT in India.

56 min, 128 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2016 spanned 3 days:

Special topic of interest: focused sessions of 3D-printing with geopolymer binders, on Tuesday July 5th.

Monday July 04, 2016 TUTORIAL

08:30-10:00: Registration to TUTORIAL
10:00-13:00: Workshop with Laboratory demonstrations involving standard recipes.
13:00-14:00: Sandwich Lunch
14:00-17:00: Short Courses + Workshop (Coffee-break 15:45-16:15)

15:30-18:00: Registration to GEOPOLYMER CAMP

Tuesday July 05, 2015, GEOPOLYMER CAMP

8:30: Registration
9:00-9:30: Individual messages from the participants (1-2 minutes)
9:30:10:45: Keynote by Joseph Davidovits: State of the Geopolymer R&D, 2016 with special emphasis on recent developments.
10:45-11:15: Coffee break

First session: at 11:15
Themes: geopolymer molecular chemistry; raw materials, scientific investigations.
–  Martin Leute, Wöllner Austria GmbH, Austria., Geosil – ready to use alkali silicates for Geopolymers.
– Cyrille Deteuf, Imerys, The manufacture of metakaolins.
– Michael Boatright, Coastal Erosion, USA, Can Red Mud Geo Polymers create abundance in the Oceans?,
– Tomasz Stawski, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, Germany, The direct characterization of the precursor colloidal phases in applications for sol-gel and mineral systems.
–  Joseph Davidovits, Geopolymers based on natural and synthetic metakaolin – a critical review.

13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch

14:00-16:00: Focused Session on 3D-printing with geopolymer binders:

– Keynote: Giorgia Franchin et al., University of Padova, Italy: Direct and indirect 3D printing with geopolymers.
– Panda Biranchi, Nanyang Technological University NTU, Singapore, 3D printing of Geopolymer binders/mortars for construction application.
– Alex Reggiani, Andrey Dudnikov, Marina Dudnikova, Renca RUS, LLC (Joint Italian and Russian company) / Geobeton, LLC (Russia), The application of geopolymer concrete in the first mobile 3D-printer for buildings construction.
– Geopolymer Institute and Christine Pelegris, Picardie University Jules Verne, Saint-Quentin, France, Indirect 3D printing of MK 750-based geopolymer ceramic.

16:00-16:30: Coffee break

Second session: at 16:30
Themes: industrial applications, foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment.
– David Fitzgerald, N.A. Engie Corp. USA, Summary of points of interest and potential in geopolymer technologies from a large scale electricity-power supplier view point,
– Chengying Bai, University of Padova, Italy, High strength open cell geopolymer foams with variable macro-porous structure,
– Surya Vesavkar, Impact Solutions, Scotland, U.K., Study on the feasibility of using metakaolin-based geopolymers as fillers in plastics.

Wednesday July 06:

Third session at 9:00-13:00
Themes: building applications, eco-construction, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, CO2 mitigation, Global Warming.
– Joseph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute, WHY DID IT TAKE 30 YEARS from the invention of Geopolymer cement in 1983-1984 until the successful commercialization in Australia, 100,000 tonnes geopolymer concrete for Airport.
9:30 – 10:15: Keynote:  Ramani R V, Kiran Global Chems, India: Practical issues in the commercialization of geopolymer cement GEOCEMENT in India.
– Vidéo “Pyramid stone”
– Dominique Bruch, Potential use of the Egyptian pyramid formula. Finding in the Negev desert (Israel) the right ingredients and formulas for making massive stones in the construction of permanent structures

10:45-11:15: Coffee break
– Mahmoud Khalifeh, University of Stavanger, Norway, Potential utilization of geopolymers for oil well cementing operations,
– Jörg Rathenow, Sinnotec Innovation Consulting GmbH, Germany, Corrosion protection and effective concrete repair with highly resistant geopolymer-based silicate mortars,
– Fernando Castro, University of Minho, Portugal, Incorporation of wastes from the metallurgical industry in geopolymers,
– Shima Pilehvar, Østfold University College, Norway, Investigating the mechanical properties of geopolymer concrete with incorporated micro-encapsulated phase change materials,
– Teewara Suwan, Brunel University, U.K, Dry mixing method of geopolymer for on-site application,
–  Xiven Simon Guan, Nano and Advanced Mat. Ins. Ltd, Hong Kong, Applications of Geopolymer Technologies in Hong Kong.
– Liqiu Tang, Elkem, Norway, Microsilica in concrete.

13:00 Free Sandwich Lunch   + Panels – Groups – Discussions  until 15:30
Panels – Groups – Discussions + Free Sandwich Lunch
– Materials Sciences + Products
– Materials Technology & Engineering (+ civil engineering)
– Cements – Concretes (+ raw materials, adjuvants)
– Sustainable / Eco Construction

Photos Gallery

Videos

This free webinar covers various aspects of the geopolymer science and applications. Yet, you will find a focus on geopolymer cement and concrete to celebrate its successful commercialization that raises a great interest all over the world.
Professor Joseph Davidovits spans a broad spectrum of valuable knowledge in this 2¼ hours video by reviewing the following topics:

1. Geopolymer definitions.
2. Real world and successful applications and commercialization.
3. Heat and fire-resistant geopolymer.
4. Why did it take 30 years to commercialize geopolymer cement?
5. Alkali Activated Materials are not Polymers, so they cannot be used as synonyms for Geo-Polymers!
6. The “good” geopolymer terminology and why using it opens its understanding.
7. Principles of geopolymer technologies (it is first a real “polymer”).
8. Fly ash-based geopolymer concrete: how to make a good one.
9. The 6 basic rules in geopolymer processing.
10. False CO2 emissions calculations.

2h15, 265 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Join Professor Joseph Davidovits and listen to the Free Geopolymer WEBINAR Spring 2016 (free Web Workshop), April 19-20, 2016, a 1-day talk of 3 hours including 3-4 breaks with Q&A that will cover:

• The impact of geopolymer on your R&D projects, university research, product marketing or industrial practices.
• The fundamental principles and concept of geopolymer science and technology (geopolymer resins, binders and cements, high-tech composites, fire- and heat-resistance materials);
• The major impact of geopolymer chemistry on our global economy in terms of low-energy and low-CO2 production technologies: geopolymer cements, geopolymer ceramics, eco-building, LTGS bricks;

LANGUAGE IS ENGLISH. Each talk is designed in order to encourage fruitful discussions between Prof. Joseph Davidovits (3-4 breaks with Q&A).

During the webinar, we plan 2 identical sessions with the same talk and content but with a different time. It will help to connect with people around the world with different time zones. If you have any doubt for the time and date for your country, visit a time zone converter website like this one: thetimenow.com

April 19, 2016:

• Session 1: 07:00 UTC+0 (GMT) for Europe, Africa, Asia (09:00 Paris / Berlin, 09:00 Johannesburg, 10:00 Moscow, 11:00 Dubai, 12:00 New Delhi, 14:00 Jakarta, 15:00 Beijing, 16:00 Tokyo, 17:00 Sidney, 19:00 Auckland).

April 20, 2016:

• Session 2: 16:00 UTC+0 (GMT) for Europe and Americas (18:00 Paris / Berlin, 17:00 London / Casablanca, 13:00 Rio de Janeiro, 12:00 New York, 11:00 Mexico City, 09:00 Los Angeles).

Outline of the talk:
The talk shows how the development of the geopolymer science concept was governed by the need to solve global technological problems in the industrial fields of extractive minerals, ceramics, cements, building materials, decorative stones and restoration works, fire and heat resistant composites, high-tech composites for aerospace, aircraft, naval and automobile, radioactive and toxic waste containment, thermal insulation. 
It further provides a clear distinction between geopolymer and alkali-activated materials and highlights some historical milestones.
 Upon completion of this presentation, you will be able to make a clear cut between geopolymer technologies and low-tech/alkali-activated systems.

Who shall attend?
Students, scientists, researchers, engineers from public and private organizations, curious or long-term experienced people in their fields of expertise, professionals involved in a wide range of development, including managers, finance specialists, R&D, marketing, business decision makers, technology and products development specialists, etc.

Technical requirements: We will use the GoToWebinar system from LogMeIn working with many computers (PC, Mac, iOS or Android App), including a fast internet connection, a web browser and the GoToMeeting application that you must install in your computer or your mobile/tablet device. For more information, please verify that you meet the systems requirements for GoToMeeting. Before joining the meeting from the e-mail invitation, please join a test meeting to confirm that you are able to successfully join a meeting.

Register Now:

Do not wait to register. You will immediately receive an e-mail with all the details and a personal link to connect to the webinar. More, you will receive 3 reminders by e-mail, one week, one day and one hour before the beginning of each session.

If you have any doubt for the time and date for your country, visit a time zone converter website like this one: thetimenow.com

Privacy statement:

We’ll use this information to keep you informed once or twice a year about news or other plans provided by the Geopolymer Institute, and to gather demographic data yielding visitors statistics. Any information gathered using this form will not be given, sold or traded to anyone outside of the Geopolymer Institute for any reason.
We consider all messages received as confidential because they may contain information that is privileged and exempt from disclosure. We will not transmit to third parties your e-mail address. According to the French law (art. 34 of the law “Informatique et Libertés” ( Computer and Liberty ) 6-jan-1978), you have the right to access, edit, modify and delete all data concerning you. To apply this right, please write us.

Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport (BWWA), Toowoomba, Queensland, is Australia’s first greenfield public airport to be built in 48 years. BWWA became fully operational with commercial flights operated by Qantas Link in November 2014. See our News dated of October 14, 2014, 70,000 tonnes Geopolymer Concrete for airport.
This project marks a very significant milestone in engineering – the world’s largest geopolymer concrete project. BWWA was built with approximately 40,000 m3 (100,000 tonnes) of geopolymer concrete making it the largest application of this new class of concrete in the world. The geopolymer concrete developed by the company Wagners, known as Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC), was found to be well suited for this construction method due to its high flexural tensile strength, low shrinkage and workability characteristics. Heavy duty geopolymer concrete, 435 mm thick, used for the turning node, apron and taxiway aircraft pavements, welcomes a heavy 747 cargo for regular air traffic between Toowoomba-Wellcamp BWWA airport and Hong Kong. For technical details read the paper by Glasby et al. (2015), EFC Geopolymer Concrete Aircraft Pavements at Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport, in our Library, Technical paper #23 GP-AIRPORT. Technical Paper on Geopolymer Aircraft Pavement

Prof. Joseph Davidovits’ visit to the Toowoomba-Wellcamp-Airport.

On October 3, 2015, Joseph and Ralph Davidovits flew from Sydney Airport to Toowoomba-Wellcamp-Airport, for a visit to the company Wagners.

Prof. Joseph Davidovits’ visit to the Global Change Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

On October 7, 2015, Joseph and Ralph Davidovits drove with Tom Glasby and Russell Genrich, company Wagners, from Toowoomba to Brisbane. Our News dated December 10, 2013, was titled World’s first public building with structural Geopolymer Concrete. It introduced the world’s first building to successfully use geopolymer concrete for structural purposes, the Global Change Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The 4 story high building, for general public use, comprises 3 suspended geopolymer concrete floors involving 33 precast panels. They are made from slag/fly ash-based geopolymer concrete coined Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC), a Wagners brand name for their commercial form of geopolymer concrete.

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2015 spanned 3 days:

Special topic of interest: Tutorial-Workshop on Monday July 6.

Monday July 06, 2015 TUTORIAL

08:30-10:00: Registration to TUTORIAL
10:00-13:00: Workshop with Laboratory demonstrations involving standard recipes.
13:00-14:00: Sandwich Lunch
14:00-17:00: Short Courses + Workshop (Coffee-break 15:45-16:15)

15:30-18:00: Registration to GEOPOLYMER CAMP

Tuesday July 07, 2015, GEOPOLYMER CAMP

9:00-9:30: Individual messages from the participants (1-2 minutes)
9:30:10:30: Keynote by Joseph Davidovits: State of the Geopolymer R&D, 2015 with special emphasis on recent developments.
10:30-11:00: Coffee break
First session: at 11:00
Themes: geopolymer molecular chemistry; raw materials, scientific investigations.
– Why AAM are not Geopolymers, video (21 min.)
– Karolína Borůvková, The modification of the surface in order to reduce the formation of efflorescence.
– Lee Wei-Hao, Development of Geopolymer in Taipei Tech, Taiwan
– Ramani R V, Kiran Global Chems, India: Development of water glass industry and Alacrete geopolymer concrete.

13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch

14:00-14:45: Keynote by Henk Nugteren, TU Delft, Netherlands: Geopolymer coating of bacteria-containing granules for use in self-healing concrete.
Second session: at 14:45
Themes: industrial applications (foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment)

– Joseph Davidovits,: Environmental implications of Geopolymers;
– Excerpt : Elsevier-Geopolymer Institute Virtual Journal on Geopolymer Science;
– Radioactive waste containment + video;

16:00-16:30: Coffee break
– Thomas Scheiblauer, Are fireproof geopolymer matrix based syntactic foams feasible?
– Garrison CK Chau, Potential applications of geopolymer technologies in Hong Kong
– Jason Learned, High-temperature resistant geopolymer pizza oven

Wednesday July 08:

9:00 – 9:45: Keynote: Dr. N.P. Rajamane /Dr. N. Jeyalakshmi, SRM University, India: Development of Geopolymer cements/concretes in India.
Third session at 9:45
Themes: building applications, eco-construction, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, CO2 mitigation, Global Warming.
– Supphatuch Ukritnukun, Durability of Slag/fly ash-based Geopolymer Cement in Different Sulphate Environments
– Linda Monfardini, Experimental study on geopolymer concrete: structural applications
10:30-11:00: Coffee break
– Ng Serina, Our R&D projects at SINTEF Trondheim, Norway
– Wolfram Marwik, Ecocity project part II – Continuation, possibilities, environment & building materials
– Stefan Backa, Building a summer house out of environmentally sound material
– Emmanuel Olivi, A contribution to spreading the Geopolymer knowledge
– Rodney Hirsch, Building from local materials in the Desert

13:00 Free Sandwich Lunch + Panels – Groups – Discussions until 15:30

Keynote Conferences in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2015 Keynote by Joseph Davidovits.

It is a review on what happened in 2014 and the first semester of 2015 on geopolymer science and applications. In his keynote, Prof. J. Davidovits developed following topics:

1) Geopolymer science

• Exponential increase of laboratories and scientific publications
• Creation with Elsevier of the Virtual Journal on Geopolymer Science
• Report on Geopolymer WEBINARs 2014: The basics of geopolymer science
• Geopolymers are inorganic macromolecules, polymers, not alkali-activation.
• Clarifying Statement: history of geopolymer development vs. alkali-activation by Glukhovsky.
• State of the 15 Research topics on geopolymer science
• The manufacture of geopolymer cements: evolution since 1983-1985 of geopolymer cement formulation, diminution of K-silicate from 50% by weight to 14% by weight.
• Geopolymer concrete: Brisbane Wellcamp airpot made of Geopolymer Concrete
• Radioactive and Nuclear Waste: Fukushima clean up with geopolymer

2) Geopolymer technologies

• Geopolymer components through 3D printing.
• Foundry sand core application (video).

3) Geopolymer Cements / Concretes

• Miliken launched a new product, GeoSpray, a special mortar and grout for infrastructure rehabilitation.
• Wagners new Brisbane Wellcamp Airport involving 70,000 tonnes of geopolymer concrete EFC.
• Why did it take so long: standards for geopolymer cement/concrete, Australian AS 3600, USA ASTM C1157

Keynote by Henk Nugteren, TU Delft, The Netherlands: Geopolymer coating of bacteria-containing granules for use in self-healing concrete.

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

Papers, communications

Session 1: Geopolymer molecular chemistry, scientific investigations, raw materials.

• Karolína Borůvková and Iva Du1ová,Technical University of Liberex, Czech Republic, Hyfrophobic tratment of the surface in order to reduce the formation of efflorescence.
• Lee Wei-Hao, National Taipei University of Technology (Taipei), Development of Geopolymer in Taipei Tech, Taiwan
• Ramani R V, Kiran Global Chems, India: Sodium silicate… to Geopolymer.

Session 2: industrial applications (foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment)

• Joseph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute Saint-Quentin:
  • Environmental implications of Geopolymers;
  • Elsevier-Geopolymer Institute Virtual Journal on Geopolymer Science;
  • Radioactive waste containment
• Thomas Scheiblauer, Thomas Scheiblauer architecture, Vienna, Austria: Are fireproof geopolymer matrix based syntactic foams feasible?
• Garrison CK Chau, Construction & Building Materials Nano & Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI), Hong Kong, China: Potential applications of geopolymer technologies in Hong Kong
• Jason Learned, High-temperature resistant geopolymer pizza oven

Session 3: building applications, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, Eco-building, etc.

• Keynote by N.P. Rajamane and N. Jeyalakshmi, SRM University, India: Development of Geopolymer cements/concretes in India
• Supphatuch Ukritnukun, UNSW University, Australia: Durability of Slag/fly ash-based Geopolymer Cement in Different Sulphate Environments
• Linda Monfardini, University of Brescia, Italy:Experimental study on geopolymer concrete: structural applications
• Ng Serina, SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, Trondheim, Norway: Our R&D projects at SINTEF
• Wolfram Marwik, Switzerland: Ecocity project part II – Continuation, possibilities, environment & building materials
• Stefan Backa, Norway: Building a summer house out of environmentally sound material
• Emmanuel Olivi, France: A contribution to spreading the Geopolymer knowledge
• Rodney Hirsch, Israel: Building from local materials in the Desert
• Andrew McIntosh, banah UK, N.I, UK: banahCEM Geopolymer Binder System
• Lieven Machiels, Lukas Arnout, Elise François, Roberto Murillo, Yiannis Pontikes, K. University Leuven, Belgium: Geopolymer cement from vitreous precursors – pilot scale testing of paver production

Panels + Groups

Photos Gallery

Webinar Spring 2016

This free webinar covers various aspects of the geopolymer science and applications. Yet, you will find a focus on geopolymer cement and concrete to celebrate its successful commercialization that raises a great interest all over the world.
Professor Joseph Davidovits spans a broad spectrum of valuable knowledge in this 2¼ hours video by reviewing the following topics:

1. Geopolymer definitions.
2. Real world and successful applications and commercialization.
3. Heat and fire-resistant geopolymer.
4. Why did it take 30 years to commercialize geopolymer cement?
5. Alkali Activated Materials are not Polymers, so they cannot be used as synonyms for Geo-Polymers!
6. The “good” geopolymer terminology and why using it opens its understanding.
7. Principles of geopolymer technologies (it is first a real “polymer”).
8. Fly ash-based geopolymer concrete: how to make a good one.
9. The 6 basic rules in geopolymer processing.
10. False CO2 emissions calculations.

2h15, 265 MB. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Webinar Spring 2014: Talk 1 and Talk 2.

These are live recording videos. They constitute genuine tools for those of you who want to learn and increase their knowledge in Geopolymer Science and Technology.

Talk 1/Part 1 – Applications and commercializations

24 minutes. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Talk 1/Part 2 – What is a geopolymer ?

15 minutes. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Talk 1/Part 3 – The 6 basic rules in geopolymer processing

33 minutes. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Talk 1/Part 4 – Geopolymer science and egyptian pyramids

25 minutes. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Talk 2/Part 5 – Principles of alumino-silicate geopolymer

29 minutes. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Talk 2/Part 6 – Heat- and fire-resistant geopolymer

12 minutes. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Talk 2/Part 7 – Fly ashed-based geopolymer (10 min.)

10 minutes. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Talk 2/Part 8 – Durability tests

9 minutes. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Talk 2/Part 9 – Geopolymer cement standards / low CO₂

12 minutes. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Talk 2/Part 10 – Geopolymer science and roman cement

12 minutes. Click on the icon on the right to watch it fullscreen.

Special thanks to our sponsor: AVENSO (Avenir Energies Solutions, Dominique Bruch)

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2014 spanned 3 days:

Special topic of interest: World’s first public building with structural Geopolymer Concrete in Brisbane, Australia.

Monday July 07 afternoon
14:00-15:30: Registration
15:30-18:30: Individual introduction; each GP Camp participant introduces himself: affiliation, main interest, project involvement, etc. (3 min. per person). Preparation of the sessions schedule, groups of interests, themes.

Tuesday July 08:
9:00: Prof. Joseph Davidovits Keynote: State of the Geopolymer R&D, 2013.
10:45-13:00: First session Themes: What is a geopolymer?
Keynote by Erik G. Søgaard, Aalborg University, Denmark, “Silica-based geopolymer: oligomers characterization”.
13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch
14:00 – 14:45: Keynote by Zdeněk Krahula, Sandteam, Spol.S R.O, Czech Republik, “GEOPOL®- The technology of mould and core production with inorganic binder system in foundry industry”.
14:45-15:30: Second session: Themes: industrial applications (foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment)
16:30-17:00: Poster session
17:00-18:30 Third Session Ancient Technologies: Geopolymer and Roman cement, restoration of cultural heritage.

Wednesday July 09:
9:00 – 11:00: 4th Session: Themes: building applications, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, Eco-building, etc. Chair: Dr. Parames Kamhangrittirong, Kasetsart University, Bangkok
11:00 – 13:00: Panels – Groups
13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch 
+ Panels – Groups

Keynote Conferences in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2014

It is a review on what happened in 2013 and the first semester of 2014 on geopolymer science and applications. In his keynote, Prof. J. Davidovits developed following topics:

1) Geopolymer science

• Exponential increase of laboratories and scientific publications
• Future creation of the Journal of Geopolymer Science
• Report on Geopolymer WEBINAR 2013 April 16-17: The basics of geopolymer science
• State of the 15 Research topics on geopolymer science
• Study of ESPCI-ParisTech, microsilica-based (silica fume) Si speciations in Na-silicate solutions
• Alkali-activation vs geopolymerization
• Ferro-sialate (-Fe-O-Si-O-Al-O-) rock-based geopolymer cement
• Silica-based geopolymer resin (Na,K)nano-poly(silanol)
• Phosphate-based geopolymer, AlPO4 isomorphs
• Organic-mineral geopolymer: phenolic, water-based latex, ethyl ester silicate silane, epoxy, compatibility rule: Napoli Parthenope Univ.
• Geopolymer in ceramic processing, high temperature ceramics (Cs, Li, Ga, Ge)
• Geopolymer concrete: First structural geopolymer concrete (Brisbane, Wagners/Hasell)

2) Geopolymer technologies

• More and more jobs creation, which means success in the development of the chemistry.

3) Geopolymer Cements / Concretes

• Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in UK, reported that Lucideon studied the encapsulation of waste that exceed their expectations.
• Miliken launched a new product, GeoSpray, a special mortar and grout for infrastructure rehabilitation.
• North Carolina Charlotte University in the US developed a solar house with fly-ash based geopolymer concrete walls with colling pipes in it.
• University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, has built a Global Change Institute which is the world’s first building to successfully use geopolymer concrete for structural purposes.
• Autralian company Wagners released their Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC, Wagners’ trade mark for geopolymer concrete).
• Technical data on Wagners’ geopolymer concrete.

4) Geopolymer and archaeology

• Session developped during this GPCamp.

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Keynote: “GEOPOL® – The technology of mould and core production with inorganic binder system in foundry industry” by Ing. Zdeněk Krahula, Sandteam, Spol.S R.O, Czech Republik.

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Keynote: “Silica-based geopolymer: oligomers characterization” by Prof. Erik G. Søgaard, Aalborg University, Denmark.

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

Small communications

Session 1: Geopolymer molecular chemistry, scientific investigations, raw materials.

• Annalisa Natali Murri, CertiMaC./ISTEC CNR, Italy: Chemical consolidation of vegetal and animal derived biomass ashes: a case study
• Lieven Machiels, K. University Leuven, Belgium: Plasmastone: a novel raw materials for geopolymers
• Dominique Bruch, AVENSO (Avenir Energies Solutions), Martinique, France: The need for on-site simple analytical means
• Joseph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute Saint-Quentin: Discussion on creating the “Journal of Geopolymer Science”

Session 2: industrial applications (foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment)

• Soumaya Louati, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Sfax, Tunisia: Structural, thermal, and dielectric characterizations of “green” phosphoric acid-based geopolymers
• Roni Martins Schmeling, Wincret Designer Concrete Products, Brazil: Decorative and architectural geopolymer panels
• Brian Day, Old Hall Barn, UK: Does geopolymer technology provide materials and methods for producing finished sculpture?
• Jae-Sol Lee, KONES (Korea Nuclear Engineering Services), Korea: Materials for development of containers for radioactive waste management.

Poster session

• Davidovits & al.: The European Research Project GEOASH, Geopolymer Cement Based on European Fly Ashes
• F.A.A. + Rutgers U.: Fire-Safety Solutions with Geopolymer Composites
• Geopolymer Institute: Dehydroxylation Mechanism of Kaolinite into Metakaolin (MK-750)
• Geopolymer Institute: The Mineral Polymer Concept: Silicones and Geopolymers with Covalent Bonding
• Ralph Davidovits & al.: 25,000 Year-old Geopolymer Ceramic ? Low-Temperature Manufacture of Prehistoric Black Ceramic
• Frédéric Davidovits: 2,000 Year-old Roman Cement and Modern Geopolymer Cement: Vitruvius’ Work De Architectura re-visited

Session 3: Ancient Technologies

• Video, Part 10, Geopolymer Webinar Spring 2014, Geopolymer – Roman cement
• Frédéric Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute, France: 2,000 Year-old Roman Cement: geology and ancient texts
• Sergio Tamburini, CNR – IENI, Italy: Challenging Materials for Restoration of Cultural Heritage

Session 4: building applications, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, Eco-building, etc.

• Joseph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute: The 6 basic rules in Geopolymer cement processing (+2 videos)
• Minna Sarkkinen, Kajaani University, Finland: Geomaterials project – Geopolymer binder mix development for structural applications
• Tero Luukkonen, Kajaani University, Finland: Utilization of metakaolin based geopolymer as an effective sorbent medium in various water treatment applications
• Ivan Man Lung Sham, Nano & Advanced Materials Institute, China: Advanced materials developments in Hong Kong
• Mihovil Zmar, University of Zagreb, Croatia: Academic solidarity with geopolymer
• Parames Kamhangrittirong, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand: The engineering properties and microstructure of high calcium fly ash based geopolymer from Mae-moh power plant
• David Andresen, Geopolymer Hempcrete, Australia: HempCreate: the art of hemp based geopolymer extrusion
• Joost Koevoets, IHC Holland, Netherlands: Low temperature Geopolymer combinations for eliminating waste & high resistance materials
• Wolfram Marwik, Ecotech Swiss GmbH, Switzerland: Creating in an arid environment high/low-tech living and working facilities
• Dominique Bruch, AVENSO (Avenir Energies Solutions), Martinique, France: Applications inside Negev Desert for massive blocks to make damps and cisterns
• Christopher Gardner, BioCharisma.com, Costa Rica: Converting Bauxite clays, within a Super Adobe context, into limestone-like geopolymer bricks
• Andrew McIntosh, banah UK, N.I, UK: banahCEM Geopolymer Binder System

Panels + Groups

Photos

Recorded Videos of the Free Geopolymer Webinar Spring 2014: Talk 1 and Talk 2, April 8-9, 2014.

We had a strong attendance (ca. 215 registered participants split between the two daily sessions, see map below).

These are live recording videos. They constitute genuine tools for those of you who want to learn and increase their knowledge in Geopolymer Science and Technology.

Webinar 2014 Talk 1/Part 1 – Applications and commercializations (24 min.)

Webinar 2014 Talk 1/Part 2 – What is a geopolymer ? (15 min.)

Webinar 2014 Talk 1/Part 3 – The 6 basic rules of geopolymer processing (33 min.)

Webinar 2014 Part 4 – Geopolymer science and egyptian pyramids (25 min.)

Webinar 2014 Talk 2/Part 5 – Principles of alumino-silicate geopolymer (29 min.)

Webinar 2014 Talk 2/Part 6 – Heat- and fire-resistant geopolymer (12 min.)

Webinar 2014 Talk 2/Part 7 – Fly ashed-based geopolymer (10 min.)

Webinar 2014 Talk 2/Part 8 – Durability tests (9 min.)

Webinar 2014 Talk 2/Part 9 – Geopolymer cement standards / low CO₂ (12 min.)

Webinar 2014 Talk 2/Part 10 – Geopolymer science and roman cement (12 min.)

Join Professor Joseph Davidovits and listen to the Free Geopolymer WEBINAR Spring 2014 (free Web Workshop), April 8-9, 2014, a 2-day talk of 2 hours including 3-4 breaks with Q&A that will cover:

• The impact of geopolymer on your R&D projects, university research, product marketing or industrial practices.
• The fundamental principles and concept of geopolymer science and technology (geopolymer resins, binders and cements, high-tech composites, fire- and heat-resistance materials);
• The major impact of geopolymer chemistry on our global economy in terms of low-energy and low-CO2 production technologies: geopolymer cements, geopolymer ceramics, eco-building, LTGS bricks;

LANGUAGE IS ENGLISH. Each talk is designed in order to encourage fruitful discussions between Prof. Joseph Davidovits (3-4 breaks with Q&A).

During the webinar, we plan 2 sessions for the same day with the same talk and content but with a different time. It will help to connect with people around the world with different time zones. If you have any doubt for the time and date for your country, visit a time zone converter website like this one: thetimenow.com

April 8, 2014: first day, 2 hour talk

• Session 1: 07:00 UTC+0 (GMT) for Europe, Africa, Asia (09:00 Paris-Berlin time, 12:30 India, 15:00 China, 15:00 Perth, 19:00 Auckland),
• Session 2: 16:00 UTC+0 (GMT) for Europe and Americas (18:00 Paris-Berlin time, 13:00 Brazil, 12:00 New York, 09:00 Los Angeles).

April 9, 2014: second day, 2 hour talk

• Session 1: 07:00 UTC+0 (GMT) for Europe, Africa, Asia (09:00 Paris-Berlin time, 12:30 India, 15:00 China, 15:00 Perth, 19:00 Auckland),
• Session 2: 16:00 UTC+0 (GMT) for Europe and Americas (18:00 Paris-Berlin time, 13:00 Brazil, 12:00 New York, 09:00 Los Angeles).

Outline of the talk:
The talk shows how the development of the geopolymer science concept was governed by the need to solve global technological problems in the industrial fields of extractive minerals, ceramics, cements, building materials, decorative stones and restoration works, fire and heat resistant composites, high-tech composites for aerospace, aircraft, naval and automobile, radioactive and toxic waste containment, thermal insulation. 
It further provides a clear distinction between geopolymer and alkali-activated materials and highlights some historical milestones.
 Upon completion of this presentation, you will be able to make a clear cut between geopolymer technologies and low-tech/alkali-activated systems.

Who shall attend?
Students, scientists, researchers, engineers from public and private organizations, curious or long-term experienced people in their fields of expertise, professionals involved in a wide range of development, including managers, finance specialists, R&D, marketing, business decision makers, technology and products development specialists, etc.

Technical requirements: We will use the GoToWebinar system from Citrix working with many computers (PC, Mac, iOS or Android App), including a fast internet connection, a web browser and the GoToMeeting application that you must install in your computer or your mobile/tablet device. For more information, please verify that you meet the systems requirements for Citrix  GoToMeeting. Before joining the meeting from the e-mail invitation, please join a test meeting to confirm that you are able to successfully join a meeting.

Register Now:

Do not wait to register. You will immediately receive an e-mail with all the details and a personal link to connect to the webinar. More, you will receive 3 reminders by e-mail, one week, one day and one hour before the beginning of each session.

If you have any doubt for the time and date for your country, visit a time zone converter website like this one: thetimenow.com

Privacy statement:

We’ll use this information to keep you informed once or twice a year about news or other plans provided by the Geopolymer Institute, and to gather demographic data yielding visitors statistics. Any information gathered using this form will not be given, sold or traded to anyone outside of the Geopolymer Institute for any reason.
We consider all messages received as confidential because they may contain information that is privileged and exempt from disclosure. We will not transmit to third parties your e-mail address. According to the French law (art. 34 of the law “Informatique et Libertés” ( Computer and Liberty ) 6-jan-1978), you have the right to access, edit, modify and delete all data concerning you. To apply this right, please write us.

PROGRAMME

The GeopolymerCamp 2013 spanned 3 days:

Special topic of interest: focussed session Ancient Technologies on Tuesday afternoon:

Monday July 08 afternoon
14:00-15:30: Registration
15:30-18:30: Individual introduction; each GP Camp participant introduces himself: affiliation, main interest, project involvement, etc. (3 min. per person). Preparation of the sessions schedule, groups of interests, themes.

Tuesday July 09:
9:00: Prof. Joseph Davidovits Keynote: State of the Geopolymer R&D, 2013.
10:45-13:00: First session Themes: Geopolymer molecular chemistry, scientific investigations, GP-Raw materials. Editing the Internet Wikipedia pages on “geopolymer” and “geopolymer cement“..
13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch
14:00 – 14:45: Keynote by Dr. Giuseppina Roviello, Dipartimento per le Tecnologie – Facoltà di Ingegneria, Università di Napoli ‘Parthenope’, Napoli, Italy: “Novel hybrid organic-geopolymer materials”.
14:45-15:30: Second session: Themes: industrial applications (foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment)
15:30-16:00: Poster session
16:30-18:30 Focused Session Ancient Technologies: Chair: Emer. Prof. Guy Demortier, Namur University, Belgium: – “Micro-analytical evidence that natural limestone of Maadi and Turah are different from Kufu and Kafrè pyramid material”
– Keynote by Dr. Igor Túnyi, Geophysical Institute SAS, Bratislava, Slovak Republic: “Paleomagnetism study supports Pyramid geopolymer stone” (Presentd by Dr. Frédéric Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute)

Wednesday July 12:
9:00 – 11:00: 4th Session: Themes: building applications, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, Eco-building, etc…. Chair: Dr. Parames Kamhangrittirong, Kasetsart University, Bangkok
11:00 – 13:00: Panels – Groups
13:00: Free Sandwich Lunch 
+ Panels – Groups

Keynote Conferences in video

State of the Geopolymer R&D 2013

It is a review on what happened in 2012 and the first semester of 2013 on geopolymer science and applications. In his keynote, Prof. J. Davidovits developed following topics:

1) Geopolymer science

• Exponential increase of laboratories and scientific publications
• Report on Geopolymer WEBINAR 2013 April 16-17: The basics of geopolymer science
• Book “Geopolymer Chemistry & Applications” replacing DVD by USB stick
• State of the 15 Research topics on geopolymer science
• Adhesion properties on steel and aluminum plates
• The use of quasicrystals and a tribute to Daniel J. Shechtman, Nobel laureate in chemistry, 2011.
• Suitability of geopolymers for space applications (telescopes, adhesives)
• High temperature tensile testing of geopolymer-SIC composites (McLaren racing cars)
• Adhesion with Organo-silane and general statement on organo-mineral geopolymer hybrids: new synthesis approach

2) Geopolymer technologies

• PVC/geopolymer composite panels
• Filing of International PATENT Applications describing geopolymeric materials: the opinion of the International Searching Authority (PCT/WO)
• Panel composites for aeronautical industry involving flax fiber and geopolymer resin

3) Geopolymer Cements / Concretes

• Strength increase with addition of 0.5% of cotton fiber
• Acid resistant geopolymer concrete for CO2 sequestration
• Word-first production run: 2,500 tonnes of MK/slag-based geopolymer concrete
• Paving tiles based on steel slag/geopolymer mass-produced in India
• Cast In-Situ Geopolymer Concrete Structure in India
• Geopolymer Cement review 2013; the 2 standards: fly ash-based geopolymer cement and (Na,K,Ca)-(ferro-sialate)-based geopolymer cement. Example of India sub-continent< /li>
• Costs and carbon emission for geopolymer pastes in comparison to OPC: the polemical issue

4) Geopolymer and archaeology

• Latest analysis of ancient Roman cement suggests geopolymeric make up of cement paste (Al-Tobermorite)
• Paleomagnetic investigation of great pyramids blocks proves artificial nature

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Keynote: “Novel hybrid organic-geopolymer materials” by Dr. Giuseppina Roviello, Dipartimento per le Tecnologie – Facoltà di Ingegneria, Università di Napoli ‘Parthenope’, Napoli, Italy

Novel hybrid organic–inorganic materials were prepared through an innovative synthesis approach based on a co-reticulation in mild conditions of epoxy based organic resins and an MK-based geopolymer inorganic matrix. A high compatibility between the organic and inorganic phases, even at appreciable concentration of resin, was realized up to micrometric level. These new materials present significantly enhanced compressive strengths and toughness.

It is based on the incorporation of the organic resin to the geopolymeric matrix suspension when both polymerization reactions are not yet completed. A good compatibility between the organic and the aqueous inorganic phases is obtained thanks to the numerous hydroxyl tails formed during the epoxy ring opening reaction that make the organic phase “temporarily hydrophilic” increasing the compatibility with the aqueous inorganic phase.

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Keynote on Egyptian Pyramids: “Micro-analytical evidence that natural limestone of Maadi and Turah are different from Kufu and Kafrè pyramid material” by Prof. Guy Demortier, Namur University, Belgium, in collaboration with L. Csedreki, E. Furu, Z. Török, I Uzonyi, Institute for Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences – Debrecen (Hungary)

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTATIONS

Download and read the presentations given in front of the Geopolymer Camp attendance. Click here to access to the files.

Small communications

Session 1: Geopolymer molecular chemistry, scientific investigations, raw materials. Discussion on editing the Internet Wikipedia page on “geopolymer”

• Martin Leute, Wöllner Austria GmbH: Basics of alkali silicates
• Alf Baker, CEO WA Kaolin, Australia: Metakaolin for Geopolymers
• Thomas Hanzlicek, Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic: Amorphous or Crystalline ?
• Joseph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute Saint-Quentin: Discussion on editing the New Internet WIKIPEDIA page on “geopolymer” and “geopolymer cement”.

Session 2: industrial applications (foamed panels, ceramics, high temperature, binders, composites, toxic and radioactive waste containment)

• Oreste Tarallo, Universita degli Studi di Napoli Frederico II, Italy: Synthesis and Characterization of geopolymer-epoxy hybrid composite
• Ivana Perna, Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic: Materials for geopolymers
• Nripati Ranjan Bose, Central Glass & Ceramic Research institute, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Govt. of India: Fiber reinforced geopolymer cement-based composites materials.
• Tomas Hanzlicek, Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic: Tests for producing and employing geopolymer materials.

Poster session

• Marcelo Strozi Cilla: Novel Geopolymer Foams by Gel-Casting
• François Deroux: Different technologies for Metakaolins production
• Davidovits & al.: The European Research Project GEOASH, Geopolymer Cement Based on European Fly Ashes
• F.A.A. + Rutgers U.: Fire-Safety Solutions with Geopolymer Composites
• Geopolymer Institute: Dehydroxylation Mechanism of Kaolinite into Metakaolin (MK-750)
• Geopolymer Institute: The Mineral Polymer Concept: Silicones and Geopolymers with Covalent Bonding
• Ralph Davidovits & al.: 25,000 Year-old Geopolymer Ceramic ? Low-Temperature Manufacture of Prehistoric Black Ceramic
• Frédéric Davidovits: 2,000 Year-old Roman Cement and Modern Geopolymer Cement: Vitruvius’ Work De Architectura re-visited

Session 3: Ancient Technologies

• Introduction by Guy Demortier (see keynote)
• Video: Ari-Kat, the technology of pyramid construction
• Igor Túnyi, Geophysical Institute SAS, Bratislava, Slovak Republic: “Paleomagnetism study supports Pyramid geopolymer stone” (Presented by Frédéric Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute)

Session 4: building applications, LTGS, bricks, cements, concretes, Eco-building, etc…

• Joseph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute: The 6 basic rules in Geopolymer cement processing (+2 videos).
• Nadezda Eroshkina, Penza State University of Architecture and Construction Penza, Russia, Geopolymer binders based on magmatic rocks
• Parames Kamhangrittiron, Center of Building Innovation and Technology Building Technology Division Kasetsart University, Thailand: Syntheis an properties of high calcium fly ash based geopolymer for concrete applications
• Andrew McIntosh, banah UK, N.I, UK: Development of Geopolymer Cement For Use In Construction.

Panels + Groups

Photos