Curing performance of alkali-activated cement–phosphorous slag and its compatibility with sulfur tailings

Phosphorus slag (PS) is an industrial waste discharged during the refining of yellow phosphorus by a high-temperature electric furnace. The slag is generally deposited on the surface in situ, and this uses up considerable areas of land and causes environmental pollution problems. The glass phase content in electric furnace PS is over 90%, indicating that the PS has potential cementitious property. As a cement admixture, PS has a retarding effect on cement, thus, its application to cement has become less adopted. Based on the hydration characteristics of PS and the application conditions of mine filling, the feasibility of alkali-activated cement–PS used as cementitious material (CPCM) to cement sulfur tailings was studied. Quicklime, NaOH, and Na₂SiO₃ were used as the activators to investigate the CPCM curing performance in a laboratory, and the compatibility of CPCM with sulfur tailings was evaluated. The results show that when the PS-to-cement mole ratio is 1∶1, quicklime is 3% of PS, the final setting time of CPCM is 300 min, and the CPCM strength for 28 days is 40.6 MPa, indicating that the material can replace P.O 42.5 cement in the subsequent filling process. When the Na₂SiO₃ is 4% of PS, the final setting time of CPCM is 39.3% less than that of cement, and its strength for 7 days is 31.1% higher than that of cement. Compared with cement, CPCM shortens the setting time of backfill by 8 hours, and its strength does not deteriorate after curing for 28 days. Therefore, CPCM is suitable for cementing sulfur tailings. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analyses show that the CPCM hydration products are mainly Ca(OH)₂ and C−S−H. Moreover, the PS hydration resulted in a decrease in the Ca(OH)₂ content, and a compact C−S−H gel with a low Ca/Si mole ratio is formed. This not only improves the later strength of CPCM but also prevents the strength deterioration of the backfill.