Abstract
•Five different geopolymer pastes are manufactured.•Effect of micro basalt fibers and nano sodium oxide was examined.•Various mechanical properties and microstructural behavior of geopolymer were assessed.•Improvement in mechanical and microstructural performance of geopolymer was observed.
This study has endeavored to examine the mechanical, microstructural, and toughness behavior of basalt fiber (BF)-reinforced coal ash-based geopolymers (GPL) nanocomposites utilizing diverse amounts of nano sodium oxide (NNA). The amount of micro-BF was kept fixed at 0.5% by the weight of the mixture. The results of the present research depicted that the use of 3% NNA was the most efficient in improving the mechanical, microstructure, and toughness efficiency of GPL nanocomposites. Scanned electron microscopy (SEM) depicted that the accumulation of NNA developed the interfacial zones and encouraged the polymerization reaction of the geopolymer, which improved the internal matrix and produced a higher-density GPL nanocomposite.