Physicochemical characterization of natural nanomaterial as a sustainable replacement of cement

Abstract

The adoption of nanotechnology will benefit the building sector. Nowadays, there is a lot of interest in using Nano-materials to improve the qualities of ordinary concrete. The objective of this research is to generate Cellulose Nano Fibers (CNFs) from plantain peel, then check, if they can improve the quality of concrete by partially replacing CNFs with cement. Initially, raw banana peel is collected and sun-dried for a few days, after it is crushed using a ball milling method to produce cellulose nanofiber. Then, obtained CNFs are partially replaced by the ordinary Portland cement as 1%, 2.5%, 3.5%, and 4%. Moreover, concrete was produced using these partial replacements of CNFs. Furthermore, various tests are performed on the cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, and concrete. As a result, an increase in CNFs, workability (consistency, setting time, and soundness) are all increasing, moreover, in concrete, compressive strength, flexural strength, and split tensile strength all increased with the curing period of 3 days, 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days. The compressive strength increased as the number of curing days increased. For all curing ages, it was discovered that a 3.5 % CNF, 10 % of Metakaolin, 7.5 % of Silica Fume replacement provided the maximum strength.