A method to control the millimeter-sized open porosity in geopolymer foam was attempted to produce hydrogen recombining supports for radioactive waste canisters. The raw materials were mixed with silicon powder as a foaming agent. Geopolymer foams with open porosities as high as 81% were obtained by a water bath treatment before pouring the slurry into the mold. The increase in the open porosity of geopolymer foam was observed by an increase in the water bath treatment time. It was thought that the viscosity of slurry increase induced the pores trapped inside the geopolymer foam and connected to form millimeter-sized and open pores. It was concluded that a simple method with a foaming agent and a water bath treatment to prepare geopolymer foams with high open porosity was developed.

The geopolymer catalyst supports utilized in the nuclear waste containers for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, will be required to have high porosity, and durability. This work presents the synthesis of a potassium and metakaolin based geopolymer and its performance upon dehydration. During water content measurements of the samples, it was seen that in the demolded samples, the water content quickly decreased to less than 30% within 7 days, while the samples, that had the cap removed from the container retained more than 50% of the water Accepted ArticleThis article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved after 28 days. The pore size distribution of the samples that were post-cured at different temperatures up to 28 days did not vary greatly with respect to the average pore size. We can infer that structurally stable pores were formed in the first 4 days and were not affected by the post-curing rate, which may be related to rheological properties and the drainage path of water or hydrogen gas during post-curing.

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