Geopolymers are ceramics achieved through chemical activation rather than extreme temperature. Conventionally, ceramics are fired at over 1,000 degrees celcius (where all forms of glass, and most metals, are molten). Chemically activated ceramics can be cured in an oven at a low setting or even outside. Glass, organic materials or metal can be embeded in a cermic material, making carbon fiber ceramics, amongst other things, possible.

The chemical components of geopolymers are fundemental earthen materials, known to and collected by peoples for a hundred generations.

Here is a video introduction to this project: |link|

Also, Frequently asked questions are addressed here: |FAQ|

Geopolymers are a significant technology in:
Low cost building with local resources:|link|
The Industrial Arts: |Coming soon|
The Fine Arts: |Coming soon|

I have been studying and playing with this technology for several years, to the point that I now believe very interesting things could happen in short ammount of time with only small investment in equipment and materials. Though all of this has been done before, in industry and laboratories, the general public is unaware. Therefore, I would like to include the public in my adventure of discovering this possibility.

What is proposed:

A research project which will span a definite period of six months. During this time I will modify my kiln to properly prepare ingredients for geopolymers, then refine several recipies for different varieties of GP. Finally, I will involve local artists, engineers, and artist-engineers in collaborative subprojects, and document the sucesses and failures of different approaches and applications.

The applications to be addressed (and the sponsor commited to seeing them through) are listed here:

• Very low fire ceramics for hobbyists/kids (no sponsor yet)
• Low Temperature Geopolymeric Setting building material (Wilson, retired mechanical engineer
• Cheap, durable rocket stove (Elliot)
• 55 gallon ceramic tube/container (Elliot)
• Additives for conventional concrete (no sponsor)
• Crucible for calcination (Elliot)
• Crucible for molten alkali, silicate and frit (Elliot)
• Other fiber reinforced ceramic objects (no sponsor)
• Ceramic resin for fixing ceramics and natural stone (no sponsor)
• Synthetic stone and objets d'arte (no sponsor)
• Foamed Geopolymers (if no one else, Elliot)
• Attempts at a pressure vessel with compression fittings and hydrostatic testing (Elliot)
• Open for suggestions (anyone)

How to get involved

I am wanting of equipment, materials and experience, though I am accumulating all these along the way. Still I have enough to experiment with and to perpetuate my experimentation for a while (I have the expenive bits already, GP material is cheap and can likely be used to build much of its own infrastructure).

If you would like to be helpful to this project, please get in touch with me. Expressing your interest is help enough, and asking questions and offering experience is more helpful still. If you would like to order some GP ingrediants from me or just donate money, that would be great!

All the information that is documented will be posted publicly, from the process of installing a feed back temperature control on an induction kiln (same process applicable to gas kilns) to my experiences with trying to get a compression fitting to seal on a ceramic vessel. There will also be videos of techniques used by conspiring creators.