Advances and prospects in rapid curing technology for geopolymers

Geopolymer is a green cementitious material formed by alkaline activation of aluminosilicate materials, offering advantages such as early strength, rapid hardening, heat and corrosion resistance, and low carbon emissions. It shows great potential for recycling solid waste and producing high-performance construction materials. However, its mechanical properties depend heavily on curing conditions, limiting its widespread application. This paper comprehensively reviews how factors like temperature, pressure, vacuum, electric field, and steam affect the mechanical properties and microstructure of geopolymers. It systematically examines both single-field curing methods (e.g., ambient, electric, microwave, vacuum, steam, high-temperature, internal, and water bath curing) and multi-field composite curing techniques (e.g., autoclave, hot-pressing, and synchronous vacuum hot-pressing curing). The findings indicate that rapid curing significantly accelerates the dissolution and polycondensation processes, enhancing early strength and microstructural density. However, improper parameter control can lead to pore coarsening, microcracking, or strength regression. Furthermore, this review summarizes reaction kinetics and structural evolution under multi-field coupling, identifies research gaps in micro-mechanisms and multi-factor interactions, and proposes future research directions. These include establishing "curing-structure-property" models, optimizing composite curing strategies, enhancing long-term durability, and advancing intelligent and sustainable curing processes, thereby supporting the scientific development and industrial application of geopolymers.