Durability and hygroscopic behaviour of biopolymer stabilised earthen construction materials

Muguda, S.; Lucas, G.; Hughes, P.N.; Augarde, C.E.; Perlot, C.; Bruno, A.W.; Gallipoli, D.

doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.119725

Durability and hygroscopic behaviour of biopolymer stabilised earthen construction materials

Muguda, S.; Lucas, G.; Hughes, P.N.; Augarde, C.E.; Perlot, C.; Bruno, A.W.; Gallipoli, D.

Authors

S. Muguda

G. Lucas

Professor Paul Hughes paul.hughes2@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Professor Charles Augarde charles.augarde@durham.ac.uk
Head Of Department

C. Perlot

A.W. Bruno

D. Gallipoli

Contributors

Dr Sravan Muguda Viswanath sravan.muguda-viswanath@durham.ac.uk
Other

Abstract

Earthen construction materials are often chemically stabilised in order to improve their durability against water-induced deterioration. However, chemical stabilisers like cement can negatively affect the hygroscopic behaviour and recyclability potential of the materials they are used to stabilise. This study investigates the potential of using biopolymers (namely guar and xanthan gums) as stabilisers in earthen construction materials. These biopolymers have some advantages over cement in terms of embodied energy and carbon footprint, and are widely available around the world. Previous research has suggested that these biopolymers can provide suitable mechanical properties and here we show that in addition they can provide satisfactory durability performance and improved hygroscopic behaviour. These findings suggest that biopolymers could have significant potential to be used as stabilisers for earthen construction materials.

Citation

Muguda, S., Lucas, G., Hughes, P., Augarde, C., Perlot, C., Bruno, A., & Gallipoli, D. (2020). Durability and hygroscopic behaviour of biopolymer stabilised earthen construction materials. Construction and Building Materials, 259, Article 119725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.119725

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	May 29, 2020
Online Publication Date	Jun 23, 2020
Publication Date	2020-10
Deposit Date	Jun 10, 2020
Publicly Available Date	Jun 24, 2020
Journal	Construction and Building Materials
Print ISSN	0950-0618
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	259
Article Number	119725
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.119725

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Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).