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Recycling Waste Agricultural Nets as Cement Composites
Bartosz Zegardło1, Chrysanthos Maraveas2, Kamil Świeczka1
1Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Siedlce, B. Prusa 14, 08-110 Siedlce, Poland.
Materials (Basel, Switzerland)
|April 27, 2024
Summary
Recycling agricultural nets into cement composites offers a sustainable solution for waste management. While adding nets impacts workability and strength, they show promise as fillers in lightweight composites.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Civil Engineering
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Agricultural nets are widely used but generate significant waste.
- Recycling these nets into construction materials is an emerging area of research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the feasibility of using waste agricultural nets as additives and fillers in cement composites.
- To analyze the mechanical and thermal properties of these novel composites.
Main Methods:
- Six series of cement composite mixtures were prepared with varying amounts of recycled agricultural nets (20-80 kg/m³).
- Composites were tested for workability, flexural strength, compressive strength, and thermal resistance.
- Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to examine the microstructure.
Main Results:
- Net addition decreased workability and both flexural and compressive strength, with effects increasing with higher net content.
- Composites without aggregate and with nets showed high flexural strength (10.44 MPa) but lower compressive strength (13.07 MPa).
- All composites showed reduced strength after thermal annealing, similar to polypropylene fiber composites.
Conclusions:
- Waste agricultural nets can be utilized as fillers in cement composites.
- Recyclates perform best in lightweight composites characterized by low density, low absorption, high flexural strength, and adequate compressive strength.
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