Effects of different lengths and doses of raw and treated sisal fibers in the cement composite material

Tsion Amsalu Fode; Yusufu Abeid Chande Jande; Young-Deuk Kim; Min-Gyu Ham; Jieun Lee; Thomas Kivevele; Nima Rahbar

doi:10.1038/s41598-025-86046-3

Effects of different lengths and doses of raw and treated sisal fibers in the cement composite material

Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 10;15(1):1603. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-86046-3.

Authors

Tsion Amsalu Fode^{1

2

3

4}, Yusufu Abeid Chande Jande^{5

6

7}, Young-Deuk Kim⁸, Min-Gyu Ham⁸, Jieun Lee⁸, Thomas Kivevele^{5

7}, Nima Rahbar⁹

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials, Energy, Water and Environmental Sciences (MEWES), The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania. [email protected].
² Structural Material and Engineering Research Group, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Postal Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania. [email protected].
³ Department of Civil Engineering, Wollega University, P.O.Box 395, Nekemte, Ethiopia. [email protected].
⁴ Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, USA. [email protected].
⁵ School of Materials, Energy, Water and Environmental Sciences (MEWES), The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania.
⁶ Structural Material and Engineering Research Group, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Postal Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania.
⁷ Water Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy Futures (WISE-Futures) Centre of Excellence, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 9124, Arusha, Tanzania.
⁸ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 55 Hanyangdaehak-ro, Sangnok- gu, Ansan, 15588, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
⁹ Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, USA.

Abstract

Sisal fiber moisture sensitivity and degradation are treated by alkaline and pozzolanic methods, such as silica fume and kaolin surface coating. However, it is novel that the treatment of sisal fiber by calcined bentonite slurry can coat sisal fiber from moisture and protect it from cement hydration by consuming free lime and reducing cement matrix alkalinity. Therefore, the present study treated sisal fibers with calcined bentonite slurry and investigated the effect of using different lengths and doses of treated and raw sisal fibers in a mortar. The results indicate that the treatment of sisal fiber with bentonite slurry improved the roughness of the fiber, reduced fresh bulk density, improved resistance in acid, salt, and alkaline conditions, and increased compressive and flexural strength at 28 and 56 days compared to the control mixture and raw sisal fiber-employed mortar. Therefore, TS1L10 improved compressive strength by 30.62% and 1.8% at 28 and 56 days, respectively. Also, TS1L10 enhanced strength and residual strength in 5% HCl by 54.54% and 72.25%, respectively, compared to the control mixture at 56 days. Generally, the present study revealed the importance of calcined bentonite-treated sisal fibers in a mortar mixture for improved durability, physical and mechanical properties.

Keywords: Calcined bentonite; Cement composite materials; Deterioration; Moisture sensitivity; Pozzolanic treatment; Sisal fiber.