Rietveld analysis of geopolymer prepared from amorphous rice husk silica with different thermal treatment

Abstract

Abstract The work aims to study the temperature effect on the geopolymer’s crystal structure prepared from amorphous silica rice husk. The samples were prepared via the sol-gel method and then subjected to thermal at a temperature of 250-650 °C. EDS identified the element and compound composition on the surface of the sample. The crystal structure of samples identified by Rietveld refinement of XRD. The sample was dominated by the gibbsite phase at relatively low temperatures (250 °C). The boehmite phase dominates at a temperature of 350-450 °C. The amorphous structure of the geopolymer was formed at a temperature of 550-650 °C. The geopolymer mainly formed from the reaction of boehmite and silica. This study shows a significant effect of temperature on the formation of the geopolymer structure.