Enhancement of physico-mechanical properties of geopolymer particleboards through the use of seagrass fibers

Abstract

Two types of geopolymer-bonded boards were produced using initial wetting of lignocellulosic aggregates followed by dry mixing and hot-pressing. Boards were prepared by incorporating large fractions of lignocellulosic material (up to 50 wt%). Geopolymer particleboards (GP) were produced using wood particles whereas geopolymer sandwich boards (GSB) were produced from wood particles and seagrass fibers, with the latter allocated in the outer layers. Inclusion of seagrass fibers was found to enhance bending strength and toughness of GSB by up to 20 and 40 % respectively. The bending strength tended to increase with the addition of lignocellulosic aggregates, reaching up to 8.9 N mm⁻². Fire resistance of GSB was slightly higher compared to GP. Further investigations such as FT-IR, XRD analysis and visual examination by digital microscopy showed an adequate degree of geopolymerization and mixing of the precursor and alkaline activator, indicating the high effectiveness of the mixing technique.

Keywords

Geopolymer particleboards; Mechanical properties; Posidonia oceanica fibers; Sandwich boards; Seagrass

Published in

Construction and Building Materials
2023, volume: 374, article number: 130889

SLU Authors

• Adamopoulos, Stergios

  • Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Paper, Pulp and Fiber Technology
Wood Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.130889

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/121423