Potentiality of using guarumã natural fiber (Ischinosiphon koern) in sustainable coating mortars

Abstract

Brazil, a country with the greatest biodiversity in the world due to its favorable geographic location and climate, has an abundant variety of natural fibers still unexplored with great potential of use in cementitious composites. In this context, the guarumã fiber (Ischinosiphon koern) of Amazonian origin, endemic to the banks of rivers and streams, stands out. This study proposes to evaluate the potential of this type of vegetable fiber, still unexplored, as a reinforcement material for coating mortars. For this purpose, initially, the fiber was characterized in its natural form and after a surface treatment based on NaOH. The material with and without treatment was used as an addition in the proportions of 0% (reference), 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% in relation to the Portland cement mass in the production of mortars with a ratio of 1:3:0.66 (cement: sand: water/cement factor). The experimental program included tests in the fresh state, in the hardened state and durability cycles. From the results, it was found that the matrices with additions of 0.5% and 1% of fibers were the ones that presented the best performance, indicating that guarumã is a promising new material in the composition of coating mortars.