CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

In most industries, control of humidity is often essential especially in the pharmaceutical,

food, and cosmetics. Humidity control ability is an important function that needs to be employed

in cement-based materials since the control of relative humidity (RH) helps in avoiding an

excessively high or low moisture content especially in indoor air quality and goods storage (Ren

at. Al, 2019). Too high humidity also causes mould growth, biological organism proliferation

(“The Importance of Humidity Control in Coffee Storage Facilities”, n.a) and alteration of the

chemical properties. Most storage facilities are large and humidity is usually controlled using

equipment, such as air conditioner and humidifier. These equipment consumes energy and thus

increases cost. On the other hand, charcoal can be used as filter, absorbent, adsorbent and

composite material; together with sand and cement (Wharry et al, 2016). According to a study by

Ren et.al, bamboo charcoal increases the humidity adsorption capacity of cement-based

composites and this improvement is more prominent when the bamboo charcoal particles are

finer.

Bamboo is one of the most economically-important non-timber forest products in the

Philippines. Its fast growth and excellent properties makes it an ideal substitute to wood for

furniture, handicrafts, construction material, and chemical products. Thus, it is explicable that

most of the initiatives undertaken worldwide on bamboo utilization are to exploit its use as

substitute to wood (Cabangon, 2018). However, factories that are involved in this industry

produce a lot of bamboo wastes such as sawdust, bamboo chips and bamboo shavings. The
management of bamboo wastes result from this production had been a major problem of the

bamboo industry. Utilizing these wastes into bamboo charcoal and bamboo briquette charcoal

for residues, were considered as an alternative solution to minimize the wastes produced by the

industry.

Bamboo charcoal, an outcome of pyrolysis, is a sort of a renewable organic resource for

sustainable development. It has numerous attractive properties such as excellent adsorption

property, electromagnetic shielding, and infrared emitting capacity (Dwivedi, et.al, n.a). Bamboo

charcoal is used as an effective adsorbent for removal of humidity and odors (Yang et al. 2009)

mainly because of its large specific surface area (Jiang 2004).

Aside from the agricultural industry, the Philippines is also known as one of the top

exporters of seafood in the global market. Since it is an archipelago; seafood is known as a staple

food choice of the Filipinos. Seafood processing plants mainly focuses on the recovery of the

meat alone, leaving tons of crustacean by-products as waste and thus, contribute a notable

environmental hazard (Premasudha et al. 2015). Most of the waste generated in this industry is

simply sent to landfills. In coastal areas, where fishing is the main choice of livelihood, these

leftover shells simply piled around in the area. Although these biological wastes are

decomposable, dumping off huge amounts leaves the area unhygienic and the piles become an

eyesore. The utilization of these exoskeletons is a quick and simple solution to this problem.

Chitin is a structural component in the exoskeletons of crustaceans such as crabs and

other arthropods; 15–20% chitin by dry weight is contained in these shells (Arvanitoyannis and

Kassaveti 2008). The chemical makeup of these shells demonstrates strength properties that will

help bind and strength concrete when added as aggregate. This chemical makeup is specifically

focused on the calcium carbonate (CaCO3), which makes up 95% of the shell (Yoon, 2002).
Chitosan is the product of chitin deacetylation. Chitosan is a helical polysaccharide

macromolecule and is the second most abundant biopolymer after cellulose (Premasudha et al.

2015). Chitosan has a great potential in food packaging applications due to its value-added

properties which are biodegradability, biocompatibility, good antimicrobial activity and

nontoxicity, and it improves chemical and physical properties of biopolymer (Othman, 2019).

Chitosan is also used in increasing the compressive strength of the cement. Based on the

study of Ustinova and Nikiforova, the chitosan in the cement allows the reduction of the total

volume of the pores and has a positive effect on the nature of their distribution.

Based on these observations, the researchers had thought of ways on how to utilize

bamboo charcoal and crab exoskeleton into more useful materials specifically in the field of

engineering; as a component in making a cement-based composite material. Thus, coming up

with a study entitled “Development and Characterization of Cement-based Composite

infused with Bamboo Charcoal and Chitosan from Crab Exoskeleton”.

B. Objectives of the Study

B.1. General Objective

● To develop a cement-based composite material infused with bamboo charcoal and

chitosan from crab exoskeleton

B.2 Specific Objectives

● To formulate different ratios of cement-based composite infused with bamboo

charcoal and chitosan from crab exoskeleton and determine the compressive

strength of the composite material.

● To compare the relative humidity adsorption properties of the different

formulation of the composite material.

 ● To determine the best formulation to obtain the optimum result in compressive

strength and relative humidity adsorption of the composite material.

● To characterize the best formulation of cement-based composite infused with

bamboo charcoal and chitosan from crab exoskeleton and compare it to the

commercial cement.

● To compare the cement-based composite infused with bamboo charcoal and

chitosan from crab exoskeleton and the commercial cement in terms of

characterization, compressive strength, and relative humidity adsorption capacity.

C. Hypotheses of the Study

The following hypotheses will be put forward:

1. The addition of bamboo charcoal and chitosan from crab exoskeleton has no

significant effect on the compressive strength and humidity adsorption of the

cement-based composite material.

2. There is no significant difference between the composite formulation that

produces the best optimum results for compressive strength and relative humidity

compared to the pure cement composite.

D. Significance of the Study

Building commercial and residential infrastructures in the community are fast growing

and cement-based composites like bricks and hollow blocks are commonly used. Cement is

mostly acquired commercially and it is composed of mainly calcium oxide, silica, alumina and

iron (“Composition of Cement”, n.a ). With the Philippines being one of the fastest developing

countries in the world, lots of construction materials are in demand for more infrastructures like
buildings and bridges. With that being said, the increase of constructions in the country also

means that the demand for cement-based composites are also increasing.

Cement is known to be one of the main sources of the decomposition of carbonates that

contributes in the increase of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. With the addition of certain

additives like bamboo charcoal and chitosan, the amount of cement in a composite will be

lessened. Moreover, adding chitosan to the composite increases the compressive strength of the

material.

In storing products, humidity must be controlled in order to avoid food spoilage, mould

growth, and biological proliferation (“The Importance of Humidity Control in Coffee Storage

Facilities”, n.a). Most storage facilities are large and humidity is usually controlled using

equipment, such as air conditioner and humidifier. These equipment consumes energy and thus

increases cost. Adding bamboo charcoal, which is proven to have humidity adsorption capacity,

can be effective in a way that it will maintain the humidity in a storage room; thus, minimizes the

use of equipment that adds up to the power consumption of the storage room. Other than that,

bamboo charcoal is produced from waste products of the bamboo industry and chitosan is also

from wastes which are the crab exoskeletons, so their usage as a cement additives is very

relevant environmentally. The result of the study can be significant for research about cement

substitutes or additives, can also be a basis for future research and for commercial production of

cement.

E. Scope and Limitation

The study will focus only on the investigation of the effect of varying formulations of

bamboo charcoal and chitosan from crab exoskeleton (to be collected from a restaurant in

Concepcion, Iloilo) as an additive in making a cement-based composite in terms of compressive

strength and humidity adsorption. The variables to be evaluated will be compressive strength and

humidity adsorption of the composite by varying the bamboo charcoal-chitosan-cement

formulation.

The compressive strength test will be conducted in the Civil Engineering Department of

the Central Philippine University and the humidity adsorption test will be conducted in the

School of Technology, University of the Philippines Visayas.