Cookies

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. By continuing to browse this repository, you give consent for essential cookies to be used. You can read more about our Privacy and Cookie Policy.


Durham Research Online
You are in:

Durability and hygroscopic behaviour of biopolymer stabilised earthen construction materials.

Muguda, S. and Lucas, G. and Hughes, P.N. and Augarde, C.E. and Perlot, C. and Bruno, A.W. and Gallipoli, D. (2020) 'Durability and hygroscopic behaviour of biopolymer stabilised earthen construction materials.', Construction and building materials., 259 . p. 119725.

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.

Item Type:Article
Full text:(VoR) Version of Record
Available under License - Creative Commons Attribution.
Download PDF
(4745Kb)
Status:Peer-reviewed
Publisher Web site:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.119725
Publisher 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/).
Date accepted:29 May 2020
Date deposited:24 June 2020
Date of first online publication:23 June 2020
Date first made open access:24 June 2020

Save or Share this output

Export:
Export
Look up in GoogleScholar