In the alkali activated inorganic polymer preparation process, liquid water glass is used as an alkali-activator to dissolve the solid aluminosilicate precursor and form the cement material. However, liquid water glass is not convenient for storage or transportation. Developing an inorganic polymer-based powder cement (IPBPC) as a one part mixture ("just add water"), similar to Portland cement, increases its commercial viability. Through compressive strength and heat flow analysis, this paper presents research on the mechanical properties and reaction process of slag with solid or liquid water glass; in contrast, solid water glass has better mechanical performance. The L-9(3(4)) orthogonal experiment method is used to optimize the experimental formula. According to the range analysis and SEM, this result indicates that the level of significance of factors are as follows: m(SL)/m(WG) > fly ash > water > retarder; m(SL)/m(WG) has the most significant impact on the 7-day compressive strength of the IPBPC sample. The Si-29 solid-state NMR patterns demonstrate that in the IPBPC sample with m(SL)/ m(WG) = 5:1, primarily Q(2) and Q(2)(1Al), the Al can incorporate into the gel. The optimum formula is as follows: m(SL)/m(WG) = 5:1, retarder 7%, fly ash 10%, and water 28%. The 7-day compressive strength of the optimum composition is 67.38 MPa, the initial setting time is 150 min, and the final setting time is 230 min and meets the construction conditions. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.