Performance Enhancement of Geopolymers through Natural Fiber Reinforcement: Sustainable Alternative Construction Materials

Abstract

Cement manufacturing consumes a huge amount of energy and raw materials, resulting in the emission of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming, resource depletion, and environmental degradation. Recently, geopolymer composites emerged as promising alternatives to the traditional cementitious materials for their cost-effectiveness and environmental-friendly processing technology, offering similar technical properties as traditional cements with superior performances. However, geopolymers have relatively low tensile and flexural strengths, fragile breakage, and low ductility, limiting their use in the construction sector. Recent advances in the area revealed that fiber-reinforcing geopolymeric matrices overcome these and other related deficiencies. Various natural fibers have been researched as reinforcement of geopolymer matrices to provide improved tensile and flexural strengths, reduced density, and improved thermal and acoustic insulation properties. This review is intended to analyze and discuss the performance enhancements and macro- and microstructural modifications of geopolymer composites through natural fiber reinforcement.