Sugarcane bagasse is an agricultural waste which can be
transformed, for cementing purposes, into an interesting
material by auto-combustion. Specifically, the obtained ash
(SBA) was successfully used to prepare alkali-activated
binders by combining with blast furnace slag (BFS). SBA
had a large amount of quartz (by soil contamination); however,
it reacted in high alkaline medium. Mixtures of BFS/SBA were
used for preparing alkali-activated mortars, by using NaOH,
sodium silicate and KOH solutions as activating reagents. The
replacement of 25% BFS with SBA generated mortars that
yielded similar or higher compressive strength than control
mortars (only BFS). Reactivity of SBA was sufficient for
compensating the replacement of BFS in these alkali-activated
systems. Microstructural studies demonstrated that the hydration
products formed in the activation of BFS are not
significantly affected by the presence of SBA in the mixture.
In terms of durability, alkali-activated mortars exhibit better
behaviour than plain OPC mortars, especially in ammonium
chloride, acetic acid and sodium sulphate media. In general,
the presence of SBA in alkali-activated BFS mortars did not
produced significant problems in durability. In conclusion,