Alkali activation of blast furnace slag with sodium silicate (SS) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or potassium hydroxide (KOH) has been extensively studied, however a comprehensive and comparative study between NaOH and KOH activated blast furnace slag without SS is limited, especially in terms of drying shrinkage. Therefore, the present study focused on the effect of using NaOH or KOH as sole alkaline activators to produce alkali-activated slag mortars (AASMs) and to comparatively evaluate their effects on the rheological properties, setting time, drying shrinkage, compressive strength and microstructural properties. Furthermore, statistical analysis was performed to establish relationship between selected parameters. The results showed that using KOH as the sole activator provided advantages such as enhanced fluidity and compressive strength and NaOH provided benefits such as reduced setting time, water absorption and drying shrinkage. In addition, the increase in the molarity of either alkaline solution decreased the yield stress and plastic viscosity of the paste. The X-ray diffraction analysis revealed major peaks of calcium silicate hydrate, calcium aluminosilicate hydrate, and hydrotalcite as reaction products in both NaOH and KOH activated mixes. The higher molarity of NaOH or KOH solution led to a decrease in the total porosity of the paste mixes but increased macro-pores as identified by mercury intrusion porosimetry analysis. The use of higher amount of sand reduced the permeable pore volume and the drying shrinkage of the mortar samples. The development of capillary pore volume and the drying shrinkage were well correlated irrespective of the alkaline activator types and sand ratio. Statistically significant relationships were found to predict compressive strength and drying shrinkage of AASM depending on mix design parameters and curing time.

硅酸钠(SS) 和氢氧化钠(NaOH) 或氢氧化钾 (KOH)碱活化高炉渣已被广泛研究，但 NaOH 与不含 SS 的 KOH 活化高炉渣的综合比较研究有限，特别是在干燥收缩方面。因此，本研究着重于使用 NaOH 或 KOH 作为单独的碱性活化剂生产碱活化矿渣砂浆 (AASMs) 的效果，并比较评估它们对流变性能、凝结时间、干燥收缩率、抗压强度的影响。和微观结构特性。此外，进行统​​计分析以建立所选参数之间的关系。结果表明，使用 KOH 作为唯一的活化剂提供了诸如增强流动性和抗压强度等优点，而 NaOH 提供了诸如减少凝固时间、吸水性和干燥收缩等优点。此外，任一碱性溶液摩尔浓度的增加都会降低浆料的屈服应力和塑性粘度。X射线衍射分析揭示了水合硅酸钙、水合铝硅酸钙和水滑石的主要峰作为 NaOH 和 KOH 活化混合物中的反应产物。较高摩尔浓度的 NaOH 或 KOH 溶液导致糊状混合物的总孔隙率降低，但通过压汞法分析确定的大孔增加。使用更多的沙子减少了砂浆样品的渗透孔体积和干燥收缩。无论碱性活化剂类型和砂比如何，毛细管孔隙体积的发展和干燥收缩都有很好的相关性。发现统计上显着的关系可以预测 AASM 的抗压强度和干燥收缩率，具体取决于混合设计参数和固化时间。