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Award ID contains: 1950486

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  1. The largest hurdle for the reuse of mine tailings as a source material for geopolymerization and the production of construction materials is the tailings’ low reactivity. The highly crystalline tailings require a strongly basic alkali activator, which is user hazardous and unfavorable for industrial use. In order to increase the reactivity of the mine tailings, pre-treatment methods can be used to reduce the crystallinity and increase the solubility of aluminosili-cates. Thermal pretreatment was able to increase the solubility of silicon and aluminum, but this did not seem to be directly related to the increase in amorphous content. Thermochemical pre-treatment was even more effective than purely thermal pretreatment for increasing the quantity of amorphous phase and producing soluble aluminosilicates that can be available for geopolymerization reactions. The aluminum solubility of pretreated tailings is closely related to the quantity of muscovite present after the treatment. Further research is needed to assess the effectiveness of pretreatment for geopolymerization of mine tailings and to link the amorphous content to the solubility of aluminosilicates. Mechanical and durability evaluation of geopolymers made from pretreated mine tailings is ongoing. 
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