STUDY OF THE CONSOLIDATION OF LATERITE THROUGH ORGANIC AND INORGANIC ACIDS
KAZE Rodrigue Cyriaque1,2, LECOMTE-NANA Gisèle Laure2, KAMSEU Elie3, CHINJE MELO Uphie1
1Laboratoire de chimie inorganique appliquée, Faculté des sciences, Université de Yaoundé I, BP 812, Yaoundé, Cameroun. 2Institut de Recherche sur les Céramiques (IRCER, UMRCNRS 7315), ENSIL-ENSCI, Université de Limoges, CEC, 12 rue Atlantis, 87068 limoges cedex, France 3Laboratoire de matériaux, mission de promotion des matériaux locaux, MINRESI/MIPROMALO, P.O. Box 2396, Yaoundé, Cameroun.
Abstract
This study valorizes the laterites widely available in Cameroon in the
production of geomaterials for sustainable buildings through an acid consolidation
process. Laterites LAI600 and LAC600 were consolidated using fulvic and phosphoric
acids. The different samples are kept at 20 and 40°C and then mechanically tested (7
and 28 days). Steaming at 40°C accelerates the consolidation process. Specimens made
from LAI600 exhibit the best mechanical strengths unlike LAC600 samples. The
consolidation through fulvic acid results in a higher porosity rate correlated with lower
thermal conductivity.