An asbestos free friction material having at least one of the group consisting of inorganic, organic and metallic fibers, at least one binder, at least one friction modifier or lubricant and at least a filler or abrasive, wherein the binder is almost completely and exclusively inorganic and is constituted almost exclusively or exclusively by a hydrated geopolymer or a blend of hydrated geopolymers.

In a method for manufacturing articles in the form of a slab or block, obtained by means of a procedure during which an initial mix including aggregates and a binder undergo vacuum vibro-compression followed by a step involving hardening of the binder, the aggregates include synthetic aggregates and fillers with a hardness greater than or equal to 5 Mohs, which contain silicon dioxide substantially only in amorphous form.

The present invention relates to a lightweight composite material having a binder and at least one first and at least one second filler, the first filler having a density of >2 kg/l and a Mohs hardness of >4 and the second filler having a bulk density of <2.5 kg/l. The concentration of the first filler in the composite material decreases starting from a first surface of the composite material in the direction of an opposite second surface of the composite material. In addition, the invention relates to a method for producing a composite material. This method includes the steps of providing a first filler which has a density of >2 kg/l and a Mohs hardness of >4, and providing a second filler which differs from the first filler and has a bulk density of <2.5 kg/l, and setting a concentration of the first filler in the resin that decreases in the vertical direction from a base surface of the casting mould by utilising the different mobilities of the filler particles in the resin.