Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 664–669

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Properties of natural fiber cement materials containing coconut coir and

oil palm fibers for residential building applications
Pusit Lertwattanaruk ⇑, Anchisa Suntijitto
Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat University, Khlong Luang, Pathumthani 12121, Thailand

h i g h l i g h t s

 Natural fibers from agro-waste (coconut coir and oil palm fiber) were studied.
 Effects of natural fibers mixed in fiber cement materials were investigated.
 Natural fiber cement products yield acceptable physical and mechanical properties.
 Use of natural fibers in fiber cement materials can reduce thermal conductivity.
 Natural fiber cement products can be used to improve energy efficiency in building.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This article presents an investigation of the properties of natural fiber based composite building materials
Received 21 June 2014 that is applicable for hot and humid climatic regions. These materials were made of cement mortar
Received in revised form 13 July 2015 containing coconut coir fiber and oil palm fiber, both waste products from agricultural manufacturing
Accepted 15 July 2015
in Thailand. They are intended to be used as roof sheet and siding to reduce heat transfer through build-
ings and energy conservation. The investigation focused mainly on the effects of both cellulose fibers on
the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of products. Test results showed that increasing the per-
Keywords:
centage replacement of natural fibers tends to reduce the density, compressive strength and flexural
Fiber cement
Mechanical properties
strength of the materials. Fiber cement products mixed with coconut fiber yielded lower density than
Thermal properties that of oil palm fiber. The mixtures of fiber cement products containing up to 15% of both natural fibers
Coconut coir fiber by weight of binder yielded the acceptable physical and mechanical properties. Furthermore, the thermal
Oil palm fiber conductivity of the natural fiber cement sheets was 60% less than that of the control specimen. The
results of this research can be used as a guideline for using agricultural residues to develop fiber cement
products for residential building applications.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The roof is one of the most important parts of a building. In
Thailand, there are currently many different types of roof sheets,
made from various materials, which users can select according to
their price and usability. At present, 60 percent of low- to
moderate-income consumers use cement roof sheets, and of them
75 percent select asbestos cement roof sheets [29] as the price of
an asbestos cement roof sheet is only 5 to 6 US Dollars per square
meter [10] – an acceptable price for low- to moderate-income
people in Thailand. In addition, these asbestos cement roof sheets
provide good thermal properties and adequate fire durability,
strength and flexibility. However, this type of roof sheet also
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: lertwatt@tu.ac.th, lertwatt@gmail.com (P. Lertwattanaruk).
contains toxic substances that enter the body through the respira-
tory system and can cause conditions such as Asbestosis, chronic
lung disease, malignant pleural disease, tumors, and cancer of
the lung and other parts of the body [30]. Alternatively, there are
other types of roof sheet which are safer to human health, such
as concrete roof sheets, ceramic roof tiles and fiber cement roof
sheets with a range of prices and physical properties.
In terms of research, there has already been substantial work on
the use of fiber cement products as insulation materials for roofs,
ceilings and walls. Natural fibers have the potential to be
developed into a highly effective material that does not generate
pollution in its production process [13]. Moreover, natural fiber
products in other countries can also be made using alternative
types of fiber that are suited to the particular climate of the region.
However, previous research in this area has mostly focused on the
development of the mechanical properties of these products. Only

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.07.154
0950-0618/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 P. Lertwattanaruk, A. Suntijitto / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 664–669
a few of them have examined their thermal properties. There has
been an increasing demand in the real estate market among
low-to-moderate income home buyers in Bangkok and metropoli-
tan areas, especially for single detached homes and townhouses
[25,31]. These buildings use air conditioning units to provide com-
fortable indoor temperatures and humidity levels in Thailand’s
tropical climate. However, most of them lack consideration of the
appropriate architectural design and building envelope materials
that would reduce their energy consumption. As a result, electric-
ity bills rise due to increased energy consumption due to higher
cooling loads. This research therefore aims to develop natural fiber
cement roof sheets with better thermal properties to reduce the
amount of heat that goes into a residential building, and also to
reduce energy consumption.
Coconut is one of the most common food and industrial crops,
mostly found in the coastal provinces of Thailand due to its tropical
climate. The coconut coir fiber can be removed from the coconut
husk by hand or machine and is widely available to use as a raw
material in fiber cement products due to its quantity, price, suit-
able mechanical properties, non-toxicity and chemical reactibility
[3]. However, there is waste from coconut processing that when
discarded or burnt may create problems for the environment.
Brown and white coconut coir fibers are two commercially
available types of coirs. Brown coir is extracted from fully mature
coconuts, whereas white coir is obtained from green coconuts.
Normally, the coconut coir fiber is 350 mm in length, 0.12–
0.25 mm in diameter and 1250 kg/m3 in density. Coconut fiber
has one of the highest amounts of lignin coating, which makes it
stronger than most other types of natural fiber: only banana fiber
has a greater tensile strength. Its resistance to microbial degrada-
tion and salt water is also unique [15].
Thailand has many oil palm plantations in areas such as Krabi,
Suratthani, Chumphon and other provinces, totaling around 3250
square kilometers with a productive capacity of around 700,000–
800,000 tons of unprocessed palm oil annually. Due to its low
price, demand for palm oil has been increasing continuously and
the industry has grown steadily in response. Moreover, the pro-
cesses and procedures in oil palm production started from sorting
the quality of palm fruit bunch out of palm fruit. The waste oil
palm residue extracted from the pure oil palm represents 12
percent of the oil palm bunch and can be used for other purposes,
such as fiber production or fuel [12]. There are many other kinds
of palms, such as Date and Raphia, but only the oil palm is important
to the Thai economy because there has been continuous domestic
growth. The characteristics of oil palm fiber waste have
20–100 mm in length, 0.2–0.8 mm in diameter, and 1300–
1450 kg/m3 in density. Moreover, it has similar mechanical proper-
ties to coconut coir fiber because the cell wall of fiber is relatively
thick and so less susceptible to chemical reactions [16]. As a result,
it must first be washed, boiled, and chemically treated before mixing
it with other materials.
In research and development of fiber cement products primarily
focused on the mechanical properties, most researchers investi-
gated natural fibers with a length between 10–60 mm [21,2,26,4]
to perform the compressive, flexural and other tests to meet the
standards. This study focused on enhancing the thermal properties
of fiber cement product, and the natural fibers with a length in the
range of 5–10 mm were used. The longer fibers can create larger
pores within the cement matrix which caused an impact on the
Natural fibers washed
pH of fibers
cut into lengths
with water reached 7.
of 5-10 mm.
Fig. 1. Natural fiber pretreatment process.
665
thermal insulation properties of the product [18]. There are three
main sources of electrical energy consumption in residential build-
ings in hot-humid climate, namely in descending order of energy
consumed: air-conditioning, electric appliances and artificial light-
ing [23]. The aspect of residential buildings that most influences
their reliance on air-conditioning is the building envelope compo-
nents, particularly the thermal properties of wall and roof [20,11].
This research aims to study and develop fiber cement products
made from natural materials, including coconut coir fiber and oil
palm fiber, to be used as roof sheets and wall panels. The choice
of material is expected to be widely used in the markets of
Thailand, located in the tropical region, due to their lower produc-
tion cost and the fact that they contain no harmful toxic sub-
stances. At present, commercially available fiber cement tiles are
produced using combination of natural and synthetic fibers, which
have similar properties compared with other types of roof sheets
and are often more durable, with better impact resistance and heat
insulation compared to asbestos cement roof sheets. Furthermore,
the production of fiber cement roof sheets using natural fibers is
still low. Therefore, once the use of these natural materials
increases, the production costs will be reduced and natural fiber
will be a viable alternative to synthetic materials, which waste
both energy and resources in their production.
2. Experimental program
2.1. Materials
The materials used in this study included ASTM Type 1 Portland cement, lime-
stone powder, sand, water and natural fibers at the levels of 5%, 10% and 15% by
weight of binder. ASTM C494 Type G high-range water reducer was used to make
the fiber uniformly distributed. The water-binder (w/b) ratio was 0.25, which is
applicable for fiber cement materials in the manufacture of roof sheets and sidings
[13]. Two types of natural fibers, coconut coir and oil palm fibers were cut into
lengths of 5–10 mm. For pretreatment of fibers (Fig. 1), the raw fibers were washed
with water until the pH was approximately 7, and boiled for 2 h in water to suffi-
ciently reduce water soluble chemicals such as sugar, starch, fat, resin, quinines,
tannins and phenols, and then oven dried at 100 °C for 24 h. The chemical and phys-
ical properties of both fibers were also studied. Mix proportions of natural fiber
cement mortars studied are summarized in Table 1. OPC denotes the control
cement mortar mixed with Portland cement Type 1. C(X) and P(X) denote cement
mortars in which coconut coir fiber and oil palm fiber, respectively, were used as
Portland cement replacements at X% by weight of binder. After the fiber cement
mortar was properly mixed, it was cast into the molds for preparation of tests.
The vibrating table was used to consolidate the fiber cement mixture.
2.2. Cement mortars
The physical and mechanical properties of cement mortars were performed in
accordance with ASTM C20 and ASTM C109 standards [5,6] respectively to deter-
mine the optimal fiber-to-cement weight ratio of fiber cement mortars. The second
experiment, following JIS R 2618 standards [17], examined their thermal properties.
These were boiled and dried to treat the fibers and then, using fiber-to-cement
weight ratios of 5%, 10%, and 15% as shown in Table 1, were cast into specimen
cubes of 5  5  5 cm and 5  5  2.5 cm (for the thermal property tests).
In accordance with ASTM C20 standards, the cement mortars were tested for
the following mechanical properties: volume of open pores and impervious
portions, apparent porosity, water absorption, and bulk density. These were deter-
mined by weighing the cement mortar cube samples and then drying them at
100 °C for 2 h to gauge their dry weight (D) before soaking them in water for
12 h to measure their suspended weight (S). Finally, they were wiped with a dry
cloth to absorb water droplets and then measured again for their saturated weight
(W). The final results for the different cement mortars were derived from the aver-
age of 3 separate samples. They were then soaked in water for 28 days and then
tested for their compressive strength.
boiled for Water soluble oven dried Fibers
chemicals were ready
2 hours for 24 hours
were reduced. for mixing.
666 P. Lertwattanaruk, A. Suntijitto / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 664–669

Table 1 Morphological and structural changes of the fibers were

Mix proportions of fiber cement mortars. investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM is
Mix Portland Limestone Sand Water Natural Water an important tool for observing the surface morphology of
cement (g) powder (g) (g) (g) fiber (g) reducer unpretreated and pretreated fibers. Fig. 2 shows SEM micro-
(%) graphs of coconut coir fiber and oil palm fiber before and after
OPC 500 500 1000 250 0 1 pretreatment. The surface morphology of unpretreated fibers
C5 500 500 1000 250 50 1 were different to those of pretreated fibers in terms of rough-
C10 500 500 1000 250 100 1
C15 500 500 1000 250 150 1
ness, smoothness and cavity. The surfaces of the unpretreated
P5 500 500 1000 250 50 1 fibers were not smooth, spread with nodes and irregular stripes,
P10 500 500 1000 250 100 1 which is covered with substances and other impurities. A com-
P15 500 500 1000 250 150 1 parison between coconut coir fiber and oil palm fiber showed
that coconut coir fiber has a smoother and more uniform surface
due to the lower amount of impurities such as ash content.
In accordance with JIS R 2618 standards, they were also tested using the TCA Pretreatment by washing and boiling leaded to morphological
(Thermal Constant Analysis) technique to assess the thermal conductivity of each
changes due to the removal of low molecular weight com-
cube when mixed with varying proportions (5–15%) of coconut coir fiber and oil
palm residue to calculate their thermal conductivity coefficients for comparison. pounds, resulting in a formation of slightly rough surface and
increasing amount of voids [4,14]. Consequently, the washed
2.3. Natural fiber cement flat sheets and boiled fiber has an increment of surface area, lower density
and greater moisture absorption.
In accordance with ASTM C1185 and ASTM C1186 standards [7,8], the experi-
ments for determining the mechanical properties of the different cellulose fiber
3.2. Physical properties of fiber cement mortars
cement flat sheets were conducted on 30  15  0.5 cm specimen to obtain the
products that are suitable to use. Both types of cellulose fibers were tested using
ratios of 5% and 10% by weight of Portland cement to determine their flexural The physical properties of the cement mortars were shown in
strengths. Figs. 3–5. Test results showed that the cement mortar mixed with
oil palm fiber has lower porosity and water absorption than those
3. Test results and discussion mixed with coconut coir fiber, but the bulk density are higher
because the density of oil palm fiber is higher than that of coconut
3.1. Chemical compositions and morphological characterization of coir fiber, and this affects the bulk density of the cement mortar
fibers and also other factors. Moreover, as the replacement ratios of fibers
were increased, the cement mortars mixed with both fibers have
Chemical compositions of natural fibers are different due to the an increase in porosity and water absorption, and a decrease in
methods of cultivation and environmental conditions such as soil, bulk density, which is consistent with other studies [13,18] and
water, air and chemicals used [22]. Table 2 shows the chemical [4]. Their experimental results show that an increase in the fiber
compositions of coconut coir fiber and oil palm fiber before and ratio of the cement mortar will result in reduced density and
after pretreatment. Pretreatment of the fibers by washing with higher porosity and water absorption compared to non-fiber
tap water until having a pH of 7, boiled in boiling water for 2 h cement mortars.
and oven dried, resulting in improving the chemical properties of
both types of fibers [4]. It was found that the ash content, alco- 3.3. Compressive strength of fiber cement mortars
hol–benzene solubility, 1% NaOH solubility decreased by the
reduction of the amount of impurities such as ash, resulting in a Test results of the compressive strengths of cement mortars are
more stable, stronger and lighter fiber [28]. Lignin starts to soften shown in Fig. 6 It was found that the compressive strengths of
and dissolve at temperature over 70 °C, and acts as a binding agent cement mortars mixed with oil palm fiber and coconut coir fiber
for cellulose fibers [32]. The pretreated (washed and boiled) fibers tend to decrease with an increase in the fiber replacement ratios,
have higher lignin, holocellulose and alpha-cellulose contents than which is consistent with conclusion from other research [18,24].
the unpretreated fibers. Thus, pretreated fibers are stiffer and Moreover, both types of mixed cement mortars had similar
tougher. However, the percentage increase of lignin content in pre- compressive strengths: 424.5, 385.6 and 361.3 kg/cm2 for coconut
treated fibers are lower than that of holocellulose and coir fiber, and 376.6, 351.4 and 288.5 kg/cm2 for oil palm fiber,
alpha-cellulose due to the fact that cellulose is insoluble and more with fiber replacement ratios of 5%, 10% and 15% by weight, respec-
durable than other components [9]. In addition, cellulose is an tively. The compressive strengths of both fiber cement mortars
important factor for heat insulation and sound absorption proper- were comparable due to the fact that the effects of the physical
ties of fiber cement materials [27]. properties of fibers were not significantly different.

3.4. Flexural strength of fiber cement flat sheets

Table 2
Chemical compositions of coconut coir fiber and oil palm fiber.
In accordance with ASTM C1185 and ASTM C1186, natural fiber
Chemical composition Unpretreated fibers Pretreated fiber cement flat sheets mixed with 5%, 10% and 15% of coconut coir and
Coconut Oil palm Coconut Oil palm oil palm fibers by weight of Portland cement were tested to deter-
fiber fiber fiber fiber mine the flexural strengths, as shown in Fig. 7. The mix proportion
Ash content (%) 2.65 6.99 0.80 4.53 with 15% of cellulose fiber was difficult for casting a flat sheet,
Alcohol–benzene 9.32 11.1 1.76 6.89 which in this study the specimens of the size15  30  0.5 cm
solubility (%) were used. Moreover, the results shows that the flexural strength
Hot-water solubility (%) 9.34 8.21 0.76 2.43
1% NaOH solubility (%) 38.5 44.2 26.3 26.3
of both fiber cement flat sheets with the fiber ratio of 10–15%
Lignin (%) 29.8 24.5 32.2 32.4 had similar flexural strengths exceeding 4 MPa (or 40 kg/cm2) in
Holocellulose (%) 56.8 47.7 70.9 63.8 accordance with the ASTM C1186 standard. In addition, compared
Alpha-cellulose (%) 34.9 32.6 53.9 52.1 to previous researches [1,21,24], the results are similar and consis-
Pentosan (%) 14.4 16.5 15.14 20.9
tent: ratios between 2% and 5% for both coconut coir fiber and oil
 P. Lertwattanaruk, A. Suntijitto / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 664–669 667

Fig. 2. SEM micrograph of coconut coir fiber and oil palm fiber (magnification 2500).

Fig. 3. Porosity of fiber cement mortars. Fig. 4. Water absorption of fiber cement mortars.

palm fiber yielded the standardized flexural strength, in the case of
roof sheets not manufactured by extrusion process with pressure.
3.5. Thermal conductivity of fiber cement mortars
The results of thermal properties of the cement mortars as
shown in Fig. 8 demonstrate that as the ratios of both fibers
increased, the thermal conductivity coefficient reduced to 66%
compared to control cement mortar. Moreover, both fibers simi-
larly affected the thermal conductivity coefficient of the mortar:
041, 0.38 and 0.37 W/m-K for coconut coir fiber and 0.40, 0.30
and 0.27 W/m-K for oil palm fiber with the fiber weight ratios
of 5%, 10% and 15% respectively. This is consistent with the
physical properties previously described. Incorporation of coco-
nut coir fiber and oil palm fiber into the mixture result in the
positive effect in thermal conductivity of fiber cement mortars.
Increasing the fiber volume in the mix proportion tends to
increase pore volume leading to higher porosity and lower bulk
density. A positive effect of decreasing bulk density is a lower
thermal conductivity of fiber cement product leading to better
thermal insulation [19,1,4].
668 P. Lertwattanaruk, A. Suntijitto / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 664–669

Fig. 5. Density of fiber cement mortars. Fig. 8. Thermal conductivity of fiber cement mortars.

effects in the physical and thermal properties. The following con-

clusions can be drawn.

1. The proper mix proportion for manufacturing natural fiber

2. The fiber cement sheets made with coconut coir and oil palm
3. Incorporation of coconut coir fiber and oil palm fiber into the
Fig. 6. Compressive strength of fiber cement mortars.
cement flat sheets, to optimize their heat insulation, includes
coconut coir fiber or oil palm fiber up to 10% weight ratio to
the binder. The fiber should be treated before being mixed with
the cement to get rid of some chemical compounds such as
inorganic compounds which may affect the quality and durabil-
ity of cement products in the long term.
fiber yielded an increase in apparent porosity and a decrease
in bulk density. The increased amount of fibers added to the
mix proportions resulted in a lower compressive and flexural
strength of fiber cement products; however, these values meet
the ASTM standards for fiber cement sheet and roofing.
mix proportion lowered the bulk density of products and also
reduced the product’s thermal conductivity, which provide
effective heat insulation. Moreover, it has relatively low heat
conductivity when compared to other fiber cement sheets in
the market. The natural fiber cement sheets can be applied for
both naturally ventilated and air-conditioned residential build-
ings in that energy efficiency can be improved.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Office of the National Research

Council of Thailand and Thammasat University for funding this
research. Appreciation is expressed to Thaksin Palm (2521) com-
pany for supplying raw materials, Faculty of Engineering,
Thammasat University and School of Engineering and Technology,
Asian Institute of Technology for technical assistance in laboratory
works.

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