Applied Industrial Symbiosis

Geopolymers synthesis, advanced production and design

Geopolymers are a class of inorganic aluminosilicate polymers composed of silicate and aluminate tetrahedrons that are linked by sharing oxygen atoms. Geopolymers have new hybrid functional derivatives to design and develop innovative and sustainable composites with better chemical resistance, durability and mechanical characteristics.

The interest of EcoCastulum innovative geopolymers is driven by three main factors:

A series of features, making geopolymers applicable and even preferred for many industrial applications, including:
Geopolymer resins and binders;
Geopolymer cements and concretes;
Low-tech building materials (clay bricks);
Low-CO2 cements and concretes .
The possibility of employing in their synthesis a number of inorganic industrial waste products, such as blast furnace slags, thermal power plant fly-ash, mine tailings, etc.
Environment-friendly industrial production, including the use of already-existing waste material that can significantly diminish large waste dumps, directly improving the environmental status of affected areas.

EcoCastulum has successfully synthesized geopolymers from mine tailings and slate sludges.

Waste valorisation into Biochars

'BIOCHAR' is a by-product of renewable energy and fuel production from plant materials like forest wastes and crop residues. Biochar is a form of charcoal that enhances soil fertility and plant growth by increasing soil water and nutrient retention, and can store carbon in the soil for hundreds of years.

EcoCastulum is a leader on the preparation and characterization of biochar from sewage sludge and from agricultural residues (olive oil industry), as well as in the research and understanding of its effects on the physical, chemical and biological properties of soils amended with this type of material.