Late-Microwave Irradiation of Alkali-Activated Waste Glass Wool: Linking Dehydration Rate with Thermomechanical Behaviour

Building and civil engineering conventional inorganic binding materials represent a significant burden for the environment, leading to the search for more sustainable materials. One of the potential solutions is alkali-activated materials (AAMs), which can be made solely from waste materials and at lower temperatures. However, reaction rate and solidification time depend on the precursor used. To enhance the speed of solidification, the curing temperature can be increased, but from the inside out not to create the crust on the surface, which would hinder the dehydration. Therefore, three mixtures of alkali-activated glass wool, a slow-in-alkali media solidifying precursor, were irradiated with low- and high-power microwaves in the late curing stage till complete dehydration, to determine the influence of artificial volumetric solidification onto thermomechanical behaviour of the AAM. As the electromagnetic power increased, the damages in the AAM became more severe, resulting in a reduction in mechanical strength.