Development of High-Performance Fiber Cement: A Case Study in the Integration of Circular Economy in Product Design

Abstract

A new fiber cement (FC) is designed with the integration of circular economy (CE) concepts, in particular a product that is recyclable yet maintains performance. The FC samples were prepared from the mixtures of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), sand, and cellulose fibers, and required an inclusion compound (IC) and water. From the heat of hydration tests, the most effective IC, IC1, was prepared from lithium silicate, sodium thiocyanate, alkylbenzene sulfonate, and hydrochloric acid. The FC samples were recycled by crushing and grinding, then used as sand replacement in varying amounts to produce new FC samples. The results from the mechanical tests showed that the 50%replacement of the sand provided FC samples with the highest modulus of rupture (MOR) of 10.64 MPa and a modulus of elasticity (MOE) of 7706.40 MPa. The samples with/without the recycled product passed both the freeze–thaw resistance test and flammability test for durability. Most importantly, results showed that the mechanical properties of the produced FC samples remained the same over 5 to 50 recycles.