The alkaline activating solution, prepared by dissolving Sodium hydroxide in the Sodium silicate solution in a 1/7.7 weight ratio, was equilibrated at room temperature for 24 h before adding the solid Metakaolin [30 (link),31 (link)]. Metakaolin solid powder was incorporated into the liquid alkaline activating solution maintained at 5 °C in a thermostated bath in a liquid-to-solid ratio of 1/1.7, mechanically mixed, and sonicated for 10 min.
The final composition of the whole geopolymeric system was previously determined by EDS analysis in a previous paper [30 (link)] as Al2O3 3.48 SiO2 1.0 Na2O 12.14 H2O with a molar ratio Silica/Alumina of 3.48.