Development of biomaterial fillers using eggshells, water hyacinth fibers, and banana fibers for green concrete construction

Abstract

Water hyacinth fiber, banana fiber, and eggshell powder were used as biomaterial fillers for concrete reinforcement, obtained from agricultural and post-consumer wastes. Adding the 0.02 and 0.05 ratios (by weight) of bio-fillers into concrete enhanced the physical (water absorption, bulk density, and true density) and mechanical properties (compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, and maximum load) of seven experimentally obtained concrete formulas. These results demonstrated that the optimum formulas of a concrete composite were obtained upon adding the 0.05 ratio (by weight) of eggshell powder followed by curing for 28 d. The best bio-filler for concrete composite is adding eggshell powder. The bulk density, true density, water absorption, compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, and maximum load of concrete Formula 6 (obtained by mixing 0.05 ratio (by weight) of eggshell powder) are 2.245 ± 0.040 g/cm3, 2.252 ± 0.033 g/cm3, 1.62% ± 0.16%, 22.08 ± 0.66 MPa, 157.33 ± 35.63 MPa, 4.13 ± 0.21 MPa, and 55.68 ± 1.64 kN, respectively. Furthermore, the microstructure and phase formations of the concrete composites were analyzed by SEM and XRD.