Mechanical Properties of Natural Fibre Reinforced Geopolymer Composites: A Review

Abstract

The cement production consumes many natural resources and energy, pollutes the environment, and cannot meet the current building materials’ green and sustainable development requirements. Therefore, geopolymers have gained popularity as cement replacements in recent years. Geopolymers have promising characteristics such as low energy consumption and carbon footprint, valuable compressive strength, fire resistance, flame resistance and good durability. However, these materials suffer from low tensile and flexural strength. Hence, fibres are added to overcome these issues and enhance their toughness index. Natural fibres are biodegradable, low-cost, renewable materials and widely available in many countries. This article reviewed previous Natural Fibre Reinforced Geopolymer Composites (NFRGC) studies, focusing on compressive strength, tensile and flexural strengths, and toughness. In addition, the available literature on the effect of the treatment methods of natural fibres on the mechanical properties of NFRGC has been addressed. The findings indicate that adding the appropriate type and content of natural fibres to geopolymer composites can enhance their mechanical properties. However, more attention should be paid to the effects of the pre-treatment of natural fibres on the performance of NFRGC.

Advancing Sustainable Construction: Insights into Clay-Based Additive Manufacturing for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction

“…The standards governing AM are encapsulated in ISO/ASTM 52900, which provides a comprehensive outline of the fundamental principles and terminologies associated with this domain. Thus, the AEC industry has widely adopted concrete-based additive manufacturing due to the attractive properties of the material, such as its mechanical performance, durability, availability, affordability, and workability, resulting in economic, technical, and scientific advantages [7][8][9], exploring concrete [10][11][12][13], cementitious and geopolymers [14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Despite these advantages, the environmental footprint of using such materials remains a topic of concern [5,9].…”

Conceptual Design and Selection of Natural Fibre Reinforced Composite Cyclist Helmet Liner Using an Integrated Approach

“…More stringent regulations and standards for reduced emissions and biodegradability (Ahmad et al, 2015) have led to a steady transition from synthetic fibre composites to natural fibre composites (NFCs). Given their low price, high specific properties, and low density, natural fibre composites have been frequently used to replace synthetic fibres (Al-Ghazali et al, 2022;Pickering et al, 2016;Sapuan & Mansor, 2015). Due to their low cost, lightweight, environmental friendliness, recyclability, outstanding specific strength and stiffness, and image as a natural product (Sapuan & Mansor, 2015), researchers are currently interested in using natural fibre composites (NFC) in various industries.…”

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Fiber Direction on The Vibration Properties of Ananas Comosus Leaf Reinforced Epoxy Composite Beams

“…While the use of carbon fiber composites is used in the aerospace, automotive, and weaponry industries because they have stiffness, high tensile strength, and a much lighter weight compared to steel, the weight is only about a quarter compared to steel [13]. In addition to using glass and carbon fiber composites, natural fiber composites have also been developed as an alternative to synthetic 131 fiber composites [14], [15]. Composites with natural fiber reinforcement have advantages that synthetic fiber composites do not have, such as being sustainable and renewable because the fiber raw materials are widely available in nature, biodegradable and environmentally friendly because the material is organic and can be naturally recycled by the environment [16], [17].…”