## 3 Results & Discussions
### Effect of Molten Salt Exposure/Prolonged Heating  
Once the composites were heated and a uniform glaze was formed, the samples were cooled, and weights measured. A known amount of either 99.9% assay sodium or potassium chloride was added to the samples and an alumina cover was placed over the opening to minimize contamination and mass loss as seen in Figure 5.  
Amorphous self-healing geopolymer containers were heated with and without Group 1 chloride to \(\sim\) 5 \({}^{\circ}\)C above their melting points--805 \({}^{\circ}\)C and 775 \({}^{\circ}\)C for sodium chloride and potassium chloride, respectively. Both test and control samples were held at these temperatures for 240 h. Once cooled, the ASH-G samples were measured for changes in mass and length. Solidified sodium chloride and potassium chloride samples were also taken for investigation with X-ray diffraction. ASH-G samples were then ultrasonicated in DI water for 15 min to dissolve any residual salt on the surface. Density and open porosity measurements were collected according to ASTM C20 using 24 \({}^{\circ}\)C de-ionized water as reference material. The results can be seen in Table 4.  
Data indicates that the presence of molten salt had little-to-no effect, while temperature and duration had a more significant effect. After the mass loss during initial heating, no samples experienced further mass loss due to prolonged heating. Geopolymer composites that were heated to 805 \({}^{\circ}\)C, containing molten sodium chloride, showed higher linear shrinkage and did not retain a surface glaze, as seen in Figure 6. In comparison, geopolymer \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Sample**} & **Sample** & \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Linear** \\ **Shrinkage** \\ **(\%)** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Mass Loss** \\ **from Cured** \\ **GP (\%)** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Density** \\ **(g/cc)** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{\
\begin{tabular}{c} **Open** \\ **Porosity** \\ **(\%)** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} **Salt Mass** \\ **Loss (\%)** \\ \end{tabular} } \\ \hline Room & \multirow{2}{*}{1} & \multirow{2}{*}{-} & \multirow{2}{*}{-} & \multirow{2}{*}{1.93} & \multirow{2}{*}{19.95} & \multirow{2}{*}{-} \\ Temperature & & & & & \\ \hline Post Heat & \multirow{2}{*}{1} & \multirow{2}{*}{7.7} & \multirow{2}{*}{12.0} & \multirow{2}{*}{2.32} & \multirow{2}{*}{0.7} & \multirow{2}{*}{-} \\ Treatment & & & & & & \\ \hline Post NaCl & \multirow{2}{*}{2} & \multirow{2}{*}{8.6} & \multirow{2}{*}{11.9} & \multirow{2}{*}{2.37} & \multirow{2}{*}{2.3} & \multirow{2}{*}{4.1} \\ Exposure (805 \({}^{\circ}\)C) & & & & & \\ \hline Post NaCl-test & \multirow{2}{*}{3} & \multirow{2}{*}{8.6} & \multirow{2}{*}{12.0} & \multirow{2}{*}{2.38} & \multirow{2}{*}{2.1} & \multirow{2}{*}{-} \\ Control (805 \({}^{\circ}\)C) & & & & & \\ \hline Post KCl Exposure & \multirow{2}{*}{4} & \multirow{2}{*}{8.2} & \multirow{2}{*}{11.9} & \multirow{2}{*}{2.32} & \multirow{2}{*}{1.4} & \multirow{2}{*}{2.4} \\ (775 \({}^{\circ}\)C) & & & & & \\ \hline Post KCl-test & \multirow{2}{*}{5} & \multirow{2}{*}{8.2} & \multirow{2}{*}{11.9} & \multirow{2}{*}{2.33} & \multirow{2}{*}{1.5} & \multirow{2}{*}{-} \\ Control (775 \({}^{\circ}\)C) & & & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Physical Changes Due to Prolonged Exposure to Molten G1 Chlorides. Figure 5: ASH-G composites before (**A**) and after (**B**) filling with Group 1 chloride salts. composites heated to 775 \({}^{\circ}\)C, containing molten potassium chloride, did retain a reduced surface glaze of approximately 180 \(\upmu\)m, as seen in Figure 7, and showed slightly less linear shrinkage compared to the 805 \({}^{\circ}\)C samples.