Samenvatting

MNEXT (formerly the Center of Expertise – Biobased Economy (CoE BBE)) is researching about the link between Geopolymer, Alginate and Natural fibres treated using Alginate, more specifically about the potential usage of Sodium Alginate and Alginate-treated natural fibres as biological/sustainable binder/activator and reinforcement for Geopolymer concrete tiles for civil engineering application in the “Geopolymer concrete tiles using Alginate and Natural Fibre” research project group. Untreated Miscanthus fibres tend to absorb water and have poor physical properties and interfacial bond between the fibre and the geopolymer matrix, thus fibre needs to be treated with chemicals before it can be used in producing geopolymer concrete tiles. This research attempt to design a geopolymer concrete mixture with partial aggregate substitution with Miscanthus fibre, and perform a preliminary investigation into the viability of Sodium Alginate solution as a pretreatment method for Miscanthus fibre for followup research by MNEXT and Joint Research Center Zeeland. Sodium Alginate solution by the results of this research is a viable pretreatment method for Miscanthus fibre. Geopolymer with Miscanthus fibre substitution pretreated by Sodium Alginate perform almost to peer with geopolymer concrete with Miscanthus fibre pretreated conventionally by NaOH by the metrics of Compression Strength and Modulus of Rupture, and outperform NaOH when the metrics of workability and sustainability into account.