Characterisation of cotton fibre-reinforced geopolymer composites

This paper describes the physical, mechanical and fracture behaviour of fly-ash based geopolymer reinforced with cotton fibres (0.3–1.0 wt%). Results show that the appropriate addition of cotton fibres can improve the mechanical properties of geopolymer composites. In particular, the flexural strength and the fracture toughness increase at an optimum fibre content of 0.5 wt%. However, as the fibre content increases, the density of geopolymer composites decreases due to an increase in porosity and tendency of fibre agglomeration