Abstract: As a traditional cementitious material,cement has high energy consumption and large carbon emissions in the production process,which does not meet the current trend of energy saving and emission reduction.As a result,people begin to find new cementitious materials to replace cement.Geopolymers are currently regarded as the most promising one.It comes from a wide range of sources,industrial waste(slag,fly ash)or other silicon-aluminum materials with main elements of silicon,aluminum and oxygen.It not only has better performance than cement,but also has the advantages of simple process,low energy consumption,and low environmental pollution,which is good for the sustainable development of the construction industry.This article reviewed the effects of silico-aluminum raw materials,alkali activator,curing systems,admixtures,and aggregate gradation on the performance of geopolymer,and proposed ways to improve its performance.In addition,the application of geopolymer was introduced,and the development prospects and challenges were summarized.