Valorization of phosphogypsum waste through acid geopolymer technology: synthesis, characterization, and environmental assessment

•The potential of acidic geopolymer technology in phosphogypsum (PG) waste recovery is well investigated.•The incorporation of PG limited the propagation of microcracks and increased the mechanical strength, due to the rod-like microstructure of PG.•PG does not contribute to the geopolymerization reaction, and showed a good adhesion with the geopolymer matrix.•The heavy metals leaching tests showed that the most of the elaborated samples presented a leaching value lower than the international recommendations.