Historiography, Current Practice and Future Perspectives: A Critical Review of Geopolymer Binders

Enes Ekinci, Fatih Kantarcı (), Müslüm Murat Maraş, Ergun Ekinci, İbrahim Türkmen and Ramazan Demirboğa
Additional contact information
Enes Ekinci: Department of Civil Engineering, Inonu University, 44280 Malatya, Türkiye
Fatih Kantarcı: Department of Civil Engineering, Inonu University, 44280 Malatya, Türkiye
Müslüm Murat Maraş: Department of Civil Engineering, Inonu University, 44280 Malatya, Türkiye
Ergun Ekinci: Department of Chemistry, Inonu University, 44280 Malatya, Türkiye
İbrahim Türkmen: Department of Civil Engineering, Inonu University, 44280 Malatya, Türkiye
Ramazan Demirboğa: Department of Architectural Engineering, Alfaisal University, Riyadh 11564, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 20, 1-42

Abstract: First introduced by Davidovits in the late 1970s, geopolymer binders were defined as a novel class of inorganic polymers. Then, research progressed from fundamental investigations into their structure and chemistry to a rapidly expanding body of work on construction applications. While geopolymers have attracted considerable interest for their superior performance, durability and reduced environmental footprint, their widespread adoption depends on extensive evaluation and well-defined future directions. The present paper provides a crucial and comprehensive overview of performance criteria, production parameters and future perspectives of geopolymer binders. A bibliometric trend analysis indicates that research on geopolymers has expanded markedly in recent years. From this body of literature, this paper offers priority directions for future work: standardization of diverse raw materials; development of safer, more sustainable activator systems; systematic improvement of fresh mix properties; acquisition of long-term durability data under realistic exposures; and progression toward internationally accepted test methods and design standards. These insights offer a concise roadmap for advancing geopolymer technology from a promising alternative to a widely adopted construction material.

Keywords: geopolymer; historical background; 3D printing; cost analysis; durability; applications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/20/9204/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/20/9204/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:20:p:9204-:d:1773391

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().