Basalt rock, blood clam shells, and bamboo fibers as mortar constituent: Solution for reducing cement consumption

Abstract

Mortar is a mixture made of fine aggregate, binder material, and water. Although widely used, mortar is considered environmentally unfriendly due to one of its constituent materials, cement. Cement contributes up to 8% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Tabas stone is a material that contains silicate-aluminate, making it a potential substitute binder for cement. Bamboo is a plant with high natural fiber content. Bamboo has a high tensile strength (140-800 MPa) with low density (0.6-0.8 g/cm3). Blood clam shells are waste materials composed mainly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) at 59.87%. This study aims to produce environmentally friendly mortar that is easy to manufacture and of high quality. The research methods used include literature review and laboratory testing. The result of this research is an environmentally friendly mortar prototype. The mortar is made of a mixture of fine aggregate in the form of blood clam shell powder and bamboo fibers bound with tabas stone powder and water, with alkali activators such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium silicate (Na2SiO3). This 'environmentally friendly mortar' was prepared and tested with several constituents, including waste tabas stone, blood clam shells, bamboo fibers, NaOH, Na2SiO3, and water. Research was also prepared with two other test objects to compare the test result and the conclusion show that the mortar passed the standards with more favorable performance. The 'mortar' exhibits minimal water absorption capabilities which match the requirements of mortar, the lowest density in line with its lightweight, low porosity which correlates with better compressive strength, and high durability value which means that the 'mortar' can withstand all conditions.