1. Geopolymers: cold-consolidated mineral materials

Within the family of inorganic materials, geopolymers are materials with a "ceramic" chemical composition, and are cold-consolidated like cements and hydraulic binders. Geopolymers (figure 1 ) are aluminosilicate-type materials synthesized from clay minerals and an activating solution. During these mineral syntheses, there are dissolution reactions of the aluminosilicate source followed by polycondensation reactions of negatively charged networks counterbalanced by alkali cations. These materials are comparable to gels and glasses from a structural point of view, and have mechanical properties similar to those of inorganic materials such as glasses and cements.