Construction and Building Materials 99 (2015) 184–191

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Mechanical behavior of plaster reinforced with abaca fibers

Fabio Iucolano ⇑, Domenico Caputo, Flavio Leboffe, Barbara Liguori
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, Università Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t

The addition of abaca fibers didn’t

involve any delay on the plaster
setting time.

Abaca fibers treated with distilled
water showed a better adhesion with
gypsum matrix.

An addition of 2 wt.% of abaca fibers
leads to an enhanced toughness of the
composites.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the last decades, eco-friendly materials are playing an increasingly important role in the building
Received 24 July 2015 industry. Particularly, many studies deal with the use of natural fibers as replacement to synthetic fibers
Received in revised form 15 September in reinforced composites. Natural fibers are already employed in many building materials, due to their
2015
attractive features, such as good mechanical properties, low cost, low density, low thermal conductibility
Accepted 18 September 2015
Available online 25 September 2015
and recyclability.
In this research, the interaction between abaca fibers and gypsum matrix was studied, in order to
produce fiber-reinforced plasterboards with enhanced toughness performances.
Keywords:
Abaca fiber
Firstly, the influence of some parameters (i.e. fibers dimensions, amount of fiber addition, water to
Gypsum gypsum ratio) on physical and mechanical behavior of the plasters was evaluated.
Pullout In order to improve the composite performances, the fibers were subjected to different chemical
Chemical treatments treatments (with distilled water, NaOH solution and EDTA solution) to modify the surface characteristics
Surface modification and to improve the adhesion with the gypsum matrix. Their effects were explored by scanning electron
microscope and mechanical tests, such as pull-out and flexural strength tests.
The treatments with NaOH and EDTA solutions resulted in a worsening of the mechanical behavior of
the composites, while the fibers treated with distilled water gave a better adhesion with the inorganic
matrix.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction attractive appearance, easy application, and its healthful contribu-

Since ancient times, gypsum has been used as finishing material
for walls and ceilings in many countries. Its excellent performance,
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: fabio.iucolano@unina.it (F. Iucolano).
tion to living conditions have made gypsum a most popular finish-
ing material for these applications [1]. In addition, the large
availability, relative low cost, easy handling and mechanical char-
acteristics suitable for different uses, makes the gypsum a widely
used construction material [2]. However, gypsum presents some
undesirable characteristics, as brittleness and weakness in tension,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.09.020
0950-0618/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 F. Iucolano et al. / Construction and Building Materials 99 (2015) 184–191
coupled with a high water solubility, hindering outdoor
application.
Generally adding fibers to a binder materials can improve its
mechanical properties, especially to the post-cracking behavior
[3–7]. In particular, brittleness may be appreciably reduced by
combining gypsum with mineral particles or natural fibers [8].
The competition in the industrial field, looking for materials
that meet both socioeconomic expectations and environment
preservation, drives toward the utilization of natural fibers
[9,10]. Advantages of natural fibers, such as good mechanical prop-
erties, low cost, low density, low thermal conductibility and recy-
clability make them a good potential replacement for synthetic
fibers in composite materials [11,12]. Many applications of natural
fiber-reinforced composites can be found in building, packaging
industries, furniture and auto-motive fields [13].
Natural fibers are mainly composed of hemicellulose, lignin and
pectin [14], moreover the composition can more or less change
according to the growing conditions, the location and the age of
the plant.
In the last years, many studies tried to estimate the influence of
adding natural fibers in gypsum matrix, mainly in terms of
mechanical properties of the composite material [15–17]. Abaca,
a particular variety of banana-tree native to the Philippines, has
been recently studied for the flexible and very resistant fibers
extracted from its trunk [18].
The main drawback in the use of natural fibers as reinforcement
in composite materials is the weak interaction between fibers and
matrix. Therefore, many studies were carried out on suitable chem-
ical treatments on fibers to improve the adhesion between fiber and
matrix, in order to increase the composite strength [19,20].
In the present paper, the effect of abaca fibers on the mechani-
cal properties of gypsum based composite was investigated. In par-
ticular, the role of different treatments on fibers and the
consequent morphologic surface modification were evaluated,
with the aim to obtain preliminary indications about the use of
abaca fibers as a sustainable opportunity to manufacture plaster-
boards with enhanced toughness performances.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
Gyproc Saint Gobain (Termoli, Italy) kindly provided the gypsum used in the
present research. As reported in the technical sheet, it was obtained by calcination
of natural gypsum (calcium sulfate dehydrate, CaSO4 2H2O) at T = 120–150 °C, in
order to obtain a mixture mainly consisting of hemihydrate, with some amount
of anhydrous gypsum (anhydrite).
Fiber Industry Development Authority of the Department of Agriculture, Repub-
lic of the Philippines, supplied the abaca fibers. An average chemical composition of
abaca fibers was reported by Li et al. [21].
After preliminary runs, 10 mm length fibers, obtained by means of an automatic
cutter, were selected both to give a ‘‘bridge action” effect during the flexural failure
and to be consistent with the dimensions of typical plasterboard panels commer-
cially available. In addition, 150 mm length fibers were used for pull-out test.
Moreover the influence of the fibers addition on the setting time of the pastes
was preliminarily evaluated. In fact a recent research on gypsum products rein-
forced with hemp and flax fibers showed that this addition could considerably delay
the setting time of the pastes. The reason of this phenomenon is to be found in the
chemical composition of the natural fibers. They contain a considerable fraction of
pectin, soluble in water, and capable of trapping the calcium ions present in
solution, so preventing the hydration of the hemihydrate [15]. Therefore, the setting
time of two different pastes, with 2 wt.% of short fibers or without fibers, were
evaluated according to the Vicat test [33].
Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) used
for the chemical treatments of the abaca fibers were Carlo Erba reagents.
2.2. Characterization of the raw materials
The chemical composition of the binder was evaluated by simultaneous thermal
analysis (DSC-TGA), using a Netzsch STA409 PCLuxx apparatus. In particular,
weighted samples were heated on alumina pans from 20 to 1000 °C with heating
rate of 10 °C/min under N2 atmosphere.
185
X-ray diffraction analysis was performed to evaluate the mineralogical compo-
sition of the binder, using a XRD Philips PW 1730 apparatus (rad. CuKa1). The den-
sity of the abaca fibers was evaluated with a helium pycnometer (MultiVolume
Pycnometer 1305, Micromeritics).
Morphology and size of the natural fibers was evaluated by means of scanning
electron microscope analysis (SEM, Cambridge S440).
Mechanical characterization was performed by Tensometer 2020 testing
machine (Alpha Technologies), equipped with a 100N load cell equal and a deflec-
tion rate equal to 10 mm/min, according to the Standard ASTM-D3822 [22]. Tensile
strength, Young’s modulus and failure elongation were evaluated as average on
thirty samples.
2.3. Chemical treatments of the fibers
In order to modify the surface characteristics and to improve the adhesion with
the gypsum matrix, abaca fibers were subjected to different chemical treatments.
Short (10 mm) and long fibers (150 mm) were treated with: (a) distilled water for
24 h at 20 °C, (b) sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and (c) ethylene diamine tetraacetic
acid (EDTA).
The treatment with distilled water allows to softly clean fiber surface by remov-
ing all the water-soluble organic compounds (e.g. the weakly linked pectin, extre-
mely soluble in water due to a high methyl esterification coefficient [15,25]). This
treatment enhances the surface roughness, improving the fiber–matrix adhesion
and increases the amount of cellulose exposed on the fiber surface, thus increasing
the number of possible reaction sites.
Alkaline treatment is one of the most common chemical treatment of natural
fibers when they are used as reinforce in composite materials; it involves the break
of hydrogen bonding in the network structure, increasing fiber surface roughness
and improving mechanical interlocking with the matrix [15,21]. In addition, this
treatment could enhance the rigidity of the fiber itself [27].
Fibers were immersed in sodium hydroxide solution (0.5 M; pH = 13.7) for 2 h
and then washed with distilled water. In order to neutralize the alkalinity of the
treated fibers an additional washing step with acetic acid was performed.
Last treatment was carried out with EDTA on fibers pretreated with NaOH solu-
tion. The EDTA, a strong chelating agent, could potentially react with calcium ions
and solubilize a great fraction of pectin, bringing to the separation of fiber bundles
and so enhancing the fiber–matrix adhesion [26,28,29]. Abaca fibers were first
soaked in NaOH solution as above reported and then they were immersed for 2 h
in a 13.5103 M EDTA solution. The pH was adjusted at 11 with sodium hydroxide).
Fibers were washed with distilled water, to neutralize the alkalinity of the treated
fibers. For each treatment the fiber-to-solution ratio was fixed at 30 g/l, and after
the treatments the fibers were dried at 40° C for 24 h. Finally, the weight loss of
the fibers due to the soluble fraction was evaluated after each treatment. All the
treatment conditions were summarizes in Table 1.
2.4. Fiber reinforced plasters characterization
2.4.1. Chemical characterization (SEM–FTIR)
In order to evaluate the effects of different surface treatment on the morphol-
ogy of the fibers, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed. Characteriza-
tion was carried out on both treated and untreated fibers. Moreover, the adhesion
between fiber and matrix was verified controlling the microstructure of the fracture
surfaces of the hardened compacts. Abaca fibers and fracture surfaces were coated
with gold and then analyzed using a SEM Cambridge S440 equipment.
The chemical surface modifications were also evaluated by means of Fourier
Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) [30], using a Nicolet apparatus (Thermo
Scientific, Italy) and a standard KBr pellet technique. For each sample 64 scan were
acquired between 4000 and 400 cm1 with a wavenumber resolution of 4 cm1.
Abaca fibers were chopped to a length less than 1 mm and mixed with 200 mg of
KBr. The resulting powder was then pressed into a pellet with a diameter equal
to 16 mm and subjected to FTIR analysis.
2.4.2. Mechanical characterization
2.4.2.1. Pull-out test. The pull-out test is a method used for the characterization of
the fiber–matrix interphase. It allows measuring the tensile load necessary to
extract a single reinforcing fiber by the matrix in which it is immersed, and there-
fore lets to estimate the quality of fiber–matrix adhesion [31].
Table 1
Treatments conditions.
Fiber Treatment Residence Molarity Soluble
typology agent time fraction [%]
F – – – –
FW H2O 24 h – 6
FS NaOH 2h 0.5 M 10
FSE NaOH 2h+2h 0.5 M 10
+ EDTA + 1.35103 M
186 F. Iucolano et al. / Construction and Building Materials 99 (2015) 184–191

For each type of treatment, two abaca long fibers were arranged longitudinally
into a polystyrene mold of 100  25  25 mm, as shown in Fig. 1, and subsequently
gypsum plaster (water to gypsum ratio = 0.7) was placed into the molds and
compacted with a conventional vibration table for about 30 s.
The specimens were cured for 24 h under controlled conditions (T = 20 ± 2 °C
and RH = 65 ± 5%), then they were de-molded and dried for 48 h at T = 40 °C.
The specimens were finally cut in half, to obtain a total of four tensile load mea-
surements for each one (A1, A2, B1, B2, see Fig. 1) and then stored in a climatic cham-
ber (MSL Humichamber, mod. EC 125) at 20 °C and RH = 60%, until the time of
testing. Specimens were manufactured in triplicate in order to get twelve measure-
ments for each type of treatment of the fiber surface. Pull-out test was performed
with a Tensometer 2020 testing machine (Alpha Technologies), with load cell equal
to 100 N and a speed displacement equal to 1.0 mm/min. Tensile load was con-
stantly applied at the free end of the fiber (see Fig. 2). Known the maximum tensile
load T at which the fiber is extracted from the matrix, it is possible to estimate the
related mean stress su,m by the following Eq. (1), where d is the fiber diameter and l
is the anchorage depth:
T strength was equal to 760 ± 160 MPa, the Young’s modulus was
su;m ¼ ½N=mm2  ð1Þ
pdl
2.4.2.2. Three point flexural test. In order to estimate the real efficacy of the rein-
forcement, in terms of ultimate strength and toughness, three point flexural tests
were conducted on 160  40  20 mm specimens, according to the Standard UNI
EN 1015-11 [32]. Short abaca fibers, both raw and treated, were added to the binder
at different percentages (1%, 2% and 3% by weight respect to binder). The dry mix-
ture was firstly homogenized and then the compound was slowly added to the
water (water to gypsum ratio = 0.7) and mixed in a blender for about 30 s. The mix-
ture was casted into mold and compacted with a conventional vibration table for
about 30 s. The specimens were cured following the same procedures described
above. For each fiber typology, specimens were manufactured and measurements
were performed in triplicate.
The flexural test was performed with a Tensometer 2020 testing machine
(Alpha Technologies), with load cell equal to 5 kN and deflection rate equal to
0.6 mm/min.
Known the maximum load F reported by testing machine, it is possible to eval-
uate the flexural strength of the specimen ru,max, using the following equation (Eq.
(2)), where l is the span distance, b and d are respectively the width and the thick-
ness of the specimen:
Fl
ru; max ¼ 1:5 2
½N=mm2  ð2Þ
bd
peak was detected around T = 350 °C, and was attributed to the
polymorphic transition CaSO4 (a) ? CaSO4 (b).
The mineralogical composition performed with XRD confirmed
the above results. In fact, the pattern reported in Fig. 3b, showed
peaks ascribed to hemihydrate (ICDS#081-1848), anhydrite
(ICDS#070-0909) and calcite (ICDS#072-1651); whereas no peaks
related to dehydrate gypsum was revealed.
SEM analysis showed that the fibers have a diameter in the
range 0.15–0.40 mm, and each fiber is itself constituted by a com-
bination of thinner filaments (d  5–15 lm), as shown in Fig. 4.
The density of the abaca fibers was evaluated by means of
helium pycnometry, and resulted to be equal to 1.28 gcm3. Thirty
fibers were mechanically tested and the following average values
as well as the standard deviations were evaluated: the tensile
equal to 28.9 ± 5.8 GPa and the failure elongation was equal to
2.64 ± 0.68%. These calculated parameters agree, on the whole,
with those related to other natural fibers [21,23,24].
The results of Vicat test did not show any significant influence
of the fibers on the setting time of the samples, probably due to
the chemical composition of abaca fibers used in the experimental,
not so rich in pectin fraction. In addition it should be considered
that a delay in setting time may happen if the extractable materials
(e.g. pectins) contained in the fibers dissolves when immersed in
water. In the above-cited paper [15], Dalmay et al. used a high
water to gypsum ratio (1.0), while in the present study a lower
ratio was used (0.7). Therefore, the lower water amount, coupled
to the rapidity of the gypsum setting process, probably involved
in a negligible amount of dissolved fraction, with a consequent
any significant delay on the setting time.
Lastly, the effect of the treatments on the abaca fiber morphology
and the mechanical behavior of the composites materials are
hereafter reported.

3.2. Fibers surface characterization

3. Results and discussion
3.1. Materials characterization
The results of the thermal analysis, reported in Fig. 3a, revealed
the presence of two endothermic peaks and one exothermic peak.
The first endothermic peak, around T = 140 °C, was attributed to
the de-hydration of hemihydrate (see Eq. (3)), with a weight loss
in the range 100–200 °C (WL100–200) equal to 4.74%:
CaSO4  1=2H2 O ! CaSO4 þ 1=2H2 O
This reaction indicates that the de-hydration of 1 mol of
CaSO41/2H2O (145 g) generates a weight loss corresponding to
1/2 mol of H2O (9 g). Therefore, the amount of hemihydrate in
the starting material can be calculated as follows:
% CaSO4  1=2H2 O ¼ ðWL100200  145=9Þ ¼ 76:4%
Another endothermic peak was detected around T = 740 °C, and
was attributed to the decomposition of calcite (see Eq. (4)), with a
weight loss in the range 600–800 °C equal to 5.70%:
CaCO3 ! CaO þ CO2
This reaction indicates that the calcination of 1 mol of CaCO3
(100 g) generates a weight loss corresponding to 1 mol of CO2
(44 g). Therefore the amount of calcite in the starting material
can be calculated as follows:
% CaCO3 ¼ ðWL600800  100=44Þ ¼ 13:0%
As a consequence, the remaining part of the starting material
(10.5%) mainly consists of anhydrite. Moreover, an exothermic
In Fig. 5 the effects of the above mentioned treatments on the
surface morphologies of fibers are presented. Upon treatment with
distilled water, the fiber surface (see Fig. 5-FW) appeared to be
decidedly rough, compared with the smooth surface of the raw
fiber (see Fig. 5-F). This could suggest an increasing strength of
the fiber–gypsum interface.
SEM micrographs of FS and FSE fibers (see Fig. 5-FS and -FSE)
showed fiber surfaces even more rough compared to FW fibers,
probably due to a local penetration of the solution into the cells
ð3Þ
of the fibers, which consumes the organic soluble fraction and
leaves a kind of ‘‘orthogonal reticulum” [34]. The increase of
the roughness was further confirmed by 10% of the soluble
fraction observed for FS and FSE fibers, against the 6% of the
soluble fraction related to the distilled water treatment, as
shown in Table 1.
In addition, both the typologies of fibers appeared on the whole
to be stressed and degraded by the treatments, thus suggesting a
worsening strength of the fiber–gypsum interface.
The modification of abaca fiber composition after chemical
treatments were also evaluated by means of FTIR analyses. The
ð4Þ
results are reported in Fig. 6, where the infrared spectra of abaca
fibers without and with chemical treatments are compared. The
main difference between the spectra is related to the adsorption
peak around 1740 cm1, characteristic of the stretching of C@O
groups present in hemicelluloses. This peak is present in raw (F)
and water treated (FW) fibers, while is fully disappeared after
treatments with NaOH and EDTA, which are known to leach out
alkali-soluble fractions, like hemicellulose [26,18]. Below, further
differences between the spectra reported in Fig. 6 are summarized:
 F. Iucolano et al. / Construction and Building Materials 99 (2015) 184–191 187

Fig. 1. Long fibers arranged into the mold (a); specimen dimensions and cross section (b).

Fig. 4. SEM micrograph of raw abaca fiber (600).

due to a slight leaching-effect of the treatments on the

glycosides.
Fig. 2. Tensile load applied at the free end of the fiber.

3.3. Mechanical properties of the plasters

– around 2900 cm1 raw fibers (F) exhibit a double peak, related
to wax (2850 cm1) and polysaccharides (2885 cm1), while
the treated fibers (FW, FS and FSE) just present one and sharper
peak of polysaccharides (CAH symmetrical stretching), due to
the wax leached out by the treatments;
– around 1250 cm1 the chemically treated fibers (FS and FSE)
show an evident reduction of the lignin characteristic peak
(CAO bond of aryl group), which is decidedly affected by the
alkali treatment;
– around 900 cm1 all the treated fibers (FW, FS, FSE) exhibit a
sharper peak (characteristic of the stretching of glycosidic bond
of polysaccharides) respect to the untreated fiber (F), probably
The curves obtained by the pull-out tests (reported in Fig. 7)
and the related results summarized in Table 2 widely confirm
the assumptions previously carried out by the SEM observations
and FTIR analyses. Firstly, it should be noted that the adhesion
between the raw fibers (F) and the gypsum matrix is quite weak,
looking at the low pull-out tensile load (2.40 ± 0.67 N). The highest
value of the pull-out tensile load was exhibited by the specimen
FW (4.42 ± 0.26 N), so confirming that the partial and soft removal
of the water-soluble fraction enhances the fiber–matrix interlock.
In addition, two further findings confirm the effectiveness of the
distilled water treatment: the lower standard deviation value

Fig. 3. Characterization of the starting binder: (a) thermogravimetric (continuous line) and differential scanning calorimetry (dotted line) analysis; (b) XRD pattern
(H = CaSO40.5H2O; A = CaSO4; C = CaCO3).
188 F. Iucolano et al. / Construction and Building Materials 99 (2015) 184–191

(±0.26) and the behavior of the FW pull-out curve, the only one representative of the 3% addition was reported (FW3). The reason
similar to the pull-out ideal curve (see Fig. 7) [31]. of these behavior could be due to the scarce workability, related
The treatments with soda and soda + EDTA resulted, respec- to the fiber excess, observed during the manufacturing of F3 and
tively, in pull-out tensile loads lower than (1.89 ± 0.45 N) or com- FW3 specimens. The loss of workability leads to a heterogeneous
parable (2.39 ± 0.67 N) with those obtained with raw fibers, so distribution of the fibers, as showed in Fig. 9c, with a consequent
proving to be too aggressive toward the fibers and decidedly worsening of both flexural strength and load transfer capacity from
ineffective. matrix to fibers. The analysis of the fracture surfaces also confirms
In accordance with the SEM and FTIR analyses, and with the that 1 wt.% of fibers are too few to ensure a bridging action (Fig. 9a)
preliminary mechanical results obtained from the pull-out tests, while 2 wt.% of fibers give rise to a homogeneous and effective
the flexural behavior was just evaluated on specimens manufac- fibers distribution (Fig. 9b).
tured with raw (Fx) and distilled water treated (FWx) fibers, where
‘‘x” represents the amount (wt.%) of fibers added respect to the bin-
der. Moreover, reference samples (REF), manufactured without
adding fibers, were realized as reference material, and tested. The
curves relative to the three points flexural tests are showed in
the Fig. 8, and the resulting mechanical features were summarized
in Table 3. By inspecting Fig. 8a it appears evident that both F1 and
FW1 specimens present the same catastrophic failure typical of a
brittle material (REF), thus proving that the addition of 1% of fibers
is ineffective to enhance the toughness.
Conversely, when fibers were added to gypsum at 2% by weight,
the flexural behavior of composites changed, and the fibrous rein-
forcement resulted to be effective to provide a good toughness. In
fact the curves shown in Fig. 8b indicate that, after the maximum
flexural load is reached, the fibrous reinforcement bridges the
macro crack and reduces the defects propagations, so to ensure
the structural continuity of the specimen [3]. Moreover, the speci-
men FW2 presents a better post-cracking behavior compared with
the F2 specimen, with a better gain of load due to a better load
transfer from the matrix to the fibers.
Finally, a further increase of fibers amount from 2 to 3 wt.% does
not involve neither in a further gain of load nor in an enhanced
toughness, as shown in Fig. 6b, where only one curve Fig. 6. FT-IR spectra of untreated (F) and treated (FW, FS, FSE) abaca fibers.

Fig. 5. SEM micrograph of untreated (F) and treated (FW, FS, FSE) abaca fibers.
 F. Iucolano et al. / Construction and Building Materials 99 (2015) 184–191 189

Fig. 7. Pull-out curves.

Table 2 Table 3
Pull-out test results. Three point flexural test results.

Sample Maximum tensile load T Shear stress su,m Sample Fiber amount Flexural load, F Flexural strength, rf
[N] [MPa] [wt.%] [N] [MPa]
F 2.40 ± 0.67 0.10 ± 0.03 REF – 278.6 ± 15.3 2.61 ± 0.14
FW 4.42 ± 0.26 0.19 ± 0.01 F1 1 288.1 ± 24.4 2.70 ± 0.23
FS 1.89 ± 0.45 0.08 ± 0.02 FW1 1 283.8 ± 25.5 2.66 ± 0.24
FSE 2.39 ± 0.67 0.10 ± 0.02 F2 2 291.1 ± 20.4 2.73 ± 0.19
FW2 2 315.0 ± 19.6 2.95 ± 0.18
F3 3 267.5 ± 28.1 2.51 ± 0.26
FW3 3 262.5 ± 29.9 2.46 ± 0.28
Further information about the role of the fibers inside the gyp-
sum matrix can be obtained from the morphological analysis of
matrix–fiber interface after a three point flexural test (Fig. 10).
SEM micrograph of F2 sample exhibit a fiber surface quite neat, of the addition of the natural fibers on the setting time of the mix-
with a scarce presence of gypsum crystals, whereas the fiber sur- ture was preliminary investigated and no significant delay on the
face in FW2 sample appears almost covered by gypsum crystal, setting time was observed.
so confirming the above-mentioned better adhesion matrix–fibers. Both the morphological analysis and the pull-out tests demon-
strated that the treatments with soda and EDTA resulted to be too
4. Conclusion aggressive toward the fiber’s surface, leading to a worsening of
mechanical features. On the contrary, the treatment of raw fibers
The effect of abaca fibers on the mechanical properties of gyp- with distilled water resulted in a slight enhance in surface rough-
sum based composite was investigated in this paper. Furthermore, ness, with a consequent improved fiber/matrix adhesion.
the effect of different treatments on fibers and the consequent Moreover, three point flexural tests showed that the addition of
morphologic surface modification were analyzed. The influence 2 wt.% of FW fibers to gypsum leads to an enhanced toughness of

Fig. 8. Flexural behavior of fiber-reinforced specimens.

190 F. Iucolano et al. / Construction and Building Materials 99 (2015) 184–191
Fig. 9. Fracture surfaces of FW1 (a), FW2 (b) and FW3 (c) specimens.
Fig. 10. SEM micrographs of raw (F2) and water-treated (FW2) fibers after the flexural test.
the composites, guaranteeing, at the same time, a good flexural
strength and a good workability of the mixture during the manu-
facturing phase. Finally, distilled water treatment also provides a
low economic and environmental impact.
Therefore, the results obtained in the present paper indicate the
effective use of abaca fibers, previously washed with water, to
manufacture plasterboards with enhanced mechanical features.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Dr. Manlio Colella for helping in ana-
lyzing SEM microscopy data and to Dr. Ilaria Capasso for helping in
carrying out FT-IR analysis.
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