Biomass-based building materials for sustainable building products
Noura AL MAZROUEI, Amged ELHASSAN, Waleed AHMED, Ali H. ALMARZOUQI
Abstract: Environmental pollution arising from disproportionate generation of non-degradable waste stemming from urbanization, industrialization, mining, and other sources continues to escalate. Plastic debris and other pollutants are not only affecting marine life but also becoming a sensitive public health policy issue, raising the need for investment in sustainable industrial materials. Palm tree waste, when improperly managed, contributes to significant amounts of environmental pollution. However, biomass from this waste can effectively be transformed into superior engineering materials that have excellent mechanical characteristics. Additionally, Okra is another natural material that can effectively be transformed into a sustainable bio-binder in engineering practice, especially considering the superior rheological characteristics of its mucilage and other mechanical characteristics. This research explores the preparation of a palm waste/okra composite that is reinforced with carbon nanofiber to investigate the improvements in mechanical characteristics for possible applications as structural engineering materials. Composite samples were prepared by mixing okra mucilage with distilled water, then adding palm waste powder and nano carbon fiber to the solution. Different composite samples were prepared with varied weight percentages (100%, 95%, 90%, 85% and 80%), compressed under heat, and dried in an oven at 90 °C for 2 hours. A compression test on the samples indicated an improvement in compression strength, Young’s modulus, yield, and strain. A thermal insulation test revealed an improvement in thermal properties. The research affirms the viability of using natural raw materials to create sustainable composites for engineering applications.
Keywords
Biomass, PLA, Sustainable, Bio Composite, Bio Binder
Published online 6/20/2026, 6 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Noura AL MAZROUEI, Amged ELHASSAN, Waleed AHMED, Ali H. ALMARZOUQI, Biomass-based building materials for sustainable building products, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 67, pp 776-781, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904176-107
The article was published as article 107 of the book Climate Action and Sustainability
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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