Engineering Sustainability Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers

Volume 169 Issue ES1 Engineering Sustainability 169 February 2016 Issue ES1
Pages 39–44 http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/ensu.14.00057
Studies on strength and weight loss of paper Paper 1400057
Received 13/11/2014 Accepted 02/06/2015
concrete
Published online 22/07/2015
Balaga and Nanthagopalan Keywords: concrete technology & manufacture/recycling & reuse of materials/
sustainability

ice | proceedings ICE Publishing: All rights reserved

Studies on strength and

weight loss of paper concrete
Hemanth Kumar Balaga Prakash Nanthagopalan
B.Tech Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India

Huge amounts of waste paper are discarded every year, of which only a minute fraction is recycled and the rest is
dumped in landfills. Paper fibres can only be recycled a limited number of times before they become too short or weak
to make high-quality recycled paper. This eventually adds to the amount of waste paper being generated and not
recycled. It would thus be advantageous to use this waste as a low-cost sustainable construction material and make it a
value-added product. In this study, Portland pozzolana cement (fly ash based), waste newsprint paper and water were
used to prepare paper concrete cubes. Initially, investigations were performed to determine the optimum soaking time
required for softening the paper fibres of the newsprint paper. The study mainly addressed the strength and weight
loss of the paper concrete cubes with age. The results indicate that, at 28 d, the paper concrete lost 25–50% of its initial
weight and a maximum cubic compressive strength of 5·40 MPa was obtained.

1. Introduction Paper concrete is a cheap lightweight material with good insulation

It is estimated that 5–8% of global carbon dioxide emissions are
produced by the concrete industry. The industry is thus constantly
searching for ways to create ecological friendly materials to reduce
its ‘carbon footprint’. Adding supplementary cementitious materials
(industrial by-products such as fly ash, slag and microsilica) as
cement replacements is the most commonly adopted method towards
this reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. However, only a low
percentage of these materials are used due to variability in quality
and availability.
Meanwhile, solid waste management in cities has become a
challenging issue (Rajgor and Pitroda, 2013). One estimate
indicates that Indian urban households generate around 2·6 Mt of
dry recyclables per annum, of which 1·3 Mt is paper (i.e. paper
accounts for 50% of total dry recyclables), which includes
newspaper and magazines (IPMA, 2014a). In India, only 20% of
waste paper is currently being recovered, with the rest going into
landfill sites as solid waste (IPMA, 2014b).
Using post-consumer (waste) newsprint paper in a cement-based
system to create ‘paper concrete’ could thus lead to greater
recycling of waste paper and thus improved sustainability.
Furthermore, the carbon dioxide emissions associated with paper
concrete are lower than those for normal concrete.
Paper is basically wood cellulose, which is an abundant fibrous
material. Hydrogen bonding between the cellulose chains forms the
basis of the strength of paper concrete. Coating these fibres with
Portland cement creates a cement matrix that encases the fibres,
providing extra strength (LIP, 2014). Paper concrete is economic
and easy to produce by blending waste paper that has been soaked
for a certain period in water and mixing it thoroughly with cement
(Srinivasan et al., 2010).
(thermal and sound) properties and fire resistance capabilities
(Nepal and Aggarwal, 2014; Sangrutsamee et al., 2012; Santamaria
et al., 2007; Solberg, 1999). Aciu et al. (2014) and Akinwumi et al.
(2014) found that their paper concretes produced a concrete with
high water absorption and good fire resistance. It was also found
that compressive strength decreased with increased paper content.
When compared with conventional concrete, paper concrete is
a good thermal insulator with a very low coefficient of thermal
conductivity. The paper fibres trap air. When water drains out
from the material, tiny air pockets are left, which results in an R
value (a measure of thermal resistance) comparable to that of
common insulating materials (PCW, 2014). Mohammed (2009)
investigated the usefulness of paper concrete as an infill material
for a composite wall system, but noted that paper concrete is
hydrophilic in nature. Research shows that paper concrete, with
its good heat and acoustic insulation properties, meets most of
the requirements for facade cladding systems. While there are
significant challenges in making use of paper concrete, there are
also opportunities (PCW, 2014).
2. Research significance and objectives
Usage of recycled paper is still relatively low as the fibre strength
is lower than that of virgin paper fibres. This reduction in fibre
strength is attributed to a loss of bonding capacity, which is related
to reduced fibre swelling. This reduction in swelling and loss of
fibre flexibility after drying reduces the strength potential of
recovered fibres. Furthermore, contamination and age degradation
also contribute to the reduced strength and quality of secondary
fibres.
The use of recycled secondary fibres instead of virgin fibre in
papermaking can negatively affect sheet properties, appearance and
performance. The presence of secondary fibres can increase the dirt

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 Engineering Sustainability
Volume 169 Issue ES1
count and the number of holes per sheet, depending on the
efficiency of the cleaning and screening systems in place. Recycled
fibre sheets also tend to be weaker than virgin fibre paper, and
brightness, colour and opacity are also affected (Bajpai, 2013).
Furthermore, recycled fibres become too short or weak to make
high-quality recycled paper. These drawbacks limit the number of
times (typically six to ten) paper can be recycled and it is therefore
considered essential to make use of this waste and convert it into a
value-added product.
Most studies so far have focused on the mechanical and durability
properties of paper concrete made from the waste pulp or residual
wastes generated from paper mills as a partial replacement for
cement (Ahmadi and Al-Khaja, 2001; Balwaik and Raut, 2011;
Mohammed and Fang, 2011; Nepal and Aggarwal, 2014; Pitroda
and Umrigar, 2013; Seyyedalipour et al., 2014). Very few studies
have investigated the use of post-consumer newsprint paper in paper
concrete (Akinwumi et al., 2014; Yun et al., 2011). Furthermore,
most of the studies used fine aggregates and ordinary Portland
cement (OPC) as a binder, but usage of OPC in concrete needs to
be reduced in order to lessen carbon dioxide emissions and thus
make concrete more sustainable.
The objective of the study reported here was to focus on the
development and properties (strength and weight loss) of paper
concrete made from post-consumer newsprint paper and Portland
pozzolana cement (fly ash based). The investigation involved
two phases. In the first phase, the preparation of paper concrete
(including optimisation of soaking time period) was assessed. In the
second phase, experiments were conducted for various water/
cement (w/c) ratios and cement/paper (c/p) ratios to evaluate the
strength and weight loss behaviour of paper concrete over time.
3. Materials used
Portland pozzolana cement (fly ash based) conforming to ASTM C
595 (ASTM, 2003), potable water and discarded post-consumer
newsprint paper were used in the study. Paper is a natural
polymer comprising long chains of linked sugar molecules
formed by linking smaller molecules. The cellulose chain bristles
with polar –OH groups. These form hydrogen bonds with –OH
groups of adjacent chains, thus bundling them together. The
chains pack regularly in places to form hard, stable crystalline
regions that give the bundled chains greater strength. With use
of a microscope it is possible to see the network of cellulose
fibres and smaller offshoots from the fibres, called fibrils (LIP,
2014). The physical properties of the newsprint paper used are
shown in Table 1.
Moisture content: % 4·17
Water absorption (by weight of dry paper) 2·5 times
Table 1. Physical properties of newsprint paper
40
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Studies on strength and weight loss of
paper concrete
Balaga and Nanthagopalan
4. Optimum soaking time period for
newsprint paper
For the preparation of paper concrete, the cement paste needs to be
thoroughly mixed with newsprint paper, but this is possible only
when the paper fibres are soft. The paper thus needs to be soaked.
Newsprint paper becomes completely soft by the time it reaches
its maximum water absorption capacity. Generally, the literature
indicates that papers need to be soaked for up to 24 h, making
paper concrete preparation a time-consuming process. Therefore,
an attempt was made to optimise the soaking period for newsprint
paper in the present investigation.
A set of newsprint paper samples of known quantity was acquired
and each sample was soaked in water for a given period of time (2 h,
4 h, 6 h and so on). Their weights were measured at the end of the
soaking times and the water absorbed as a percentage of the weight
of the dry sample was calculated. At the end of 24 h, the newsprint
paper absorbed 2·5 times its dry weight, which is here referred to as
the maximum water absorption capacity.
The water absorption percentage after 24 h was constant. As shown
in Figure 1, 95% of the maximum water absorption was reached
within the first 4 h: beyond this time the gain in water absorption
was insignificant. Therefore, the newsprint paper soaking time was
optimised to 4 h. Since 95% of water was absorbed by the newsprint
paper during the soaking time period itself, it was thus necessary to
add only the extra 5% of water later, while blending and mixing
with cement. This effectively controlled the water content in the
concrete cubes that were cast as well as the time needed for
preparation of the cubes.
The compressive strengths of cubes made with paper that had been
soaked for 4 h and 24 h were measured and compared in order to
check for any change in the bonding capability of paper that had been
soaked for longer than the optimum soaking time. Figure 2 shows
that there was no significant difference between the compressive
strengths of the cubes, meaning that the nature of bonding of
newsprint paper did not change significantly beyond the optimum
soaking time period. It was therefore considered sufficient to soak
100
percentage of maximum capacity
Water absorbed by paper as a
80
60
40
20
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Time: h
Figure 1. Relation between water absorption of paper and time
 Engineering Sustainability
Volume 169 Issue ES1
3·5 - demoulded after 24 h and air-cured for 28 d in a closed environment
Paper soaked for 4 h
- Paper soaked for 24 h
3·0
Compressive strength: MPa
-
2·5
2·0 - the slump characteristics of the fresh concrete were not studied.
1·5 -
1·0 -
0·5 - on day 7, 14 and 28. The density of the paper concrete depended on
0 than that of conventional concrete (2400 kg/m3). The microstructure
1·0 1·5
c/p ratio
Figure 2. Influence of time of soaking on compressive strength for
different c/p ratio
the newsprint paper for about 4 h before preparing the concrete,
and all the experiments in the present investigation were performed
with newsprint paper that had been soaked for 4 h.
5. Mixture proportion
The mixture proportion used for the paper concrete was decided
based on a literature review and previous experience in the
laboratory. The c/p ratio (by weight) was varied in the range
0·5–4·0. For each c/p ratio, the w/c ratio (by weight) was varied
from a minimum to a maximum value: the minimum w/c ratio was
taken based on the amount of water below which the paper concrete
cubes could not be cast (i.e. the mixture was dry) whereas the
maximum w/c ratio was based on the amount of water beyond
which the mixture could not hold water (i.e. the mixture was
‘bleeding’). For example, for a c/p ratio of 2·0, cubes were cast with
w/c ratios of 1·75, 1·95, 2·15 and 2·35.
6. Preparation of paper concrete cubes
For a particular c/p ratio, the water content corresponding to a w/c
ratio was calculated. Dry newsprint paper was cut into pieces and
soaked in water for 4 h to soften the paper fibres. The initial (before
soaking) and final weights (after soaking) of the newsprint paper
were measured to calculate the quantity of water absorbed by the
paper. This absorbed water in the pulp was accounted for in the total
water content corresponding to the w/c ratio. Therefore, deducting
the absorbed water in pulp, the balance water corresponding to the
total water content was only added to the cement in the process of
blending.
The soaked paper was pulped in a blender for about 15 min. Cement
and the balance water were added slowly and mixing continued for
about 1–2 min. Finally, the mixture was blended thoroughly for
about 15 min. The cement paste with pulp was cast in cubic moulds
of size 70·7 mm × 70·7 mm × 70·7 mm in three layers; each layer
was tamped 25 times. The moulds were then vibrated for 45–65 s on
a vibrating table to achieve good compaction. The cubes were
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Studies on strength and weight loss of
paper concrete
Balaga and Nanthagopalan
free from exposure to strong air currents.
7. Hardened properties
The fresh paper concrete was not adequately cohesive and hence
Furthermore, the paper concrete cubes were soft until the end of
the third day due to the high water absorption capacity of the paper.
The paper concretes were tested for compressive strength (as per
IS 516 (BIS, 2002), the rate of loading applied was 140 kg/cm2/min)
the c/p ratio, and was around 1000 kg/m3, which is substantially less
2·0 of the cement paste, paper fibres in the paper concrete and the
interface between paper fibres and cement paste were examined
using scanning electron microscopy (Figures 3 and 4).
7.1 Variation of compressive strength with c/p ratio
As shown in Figure 5, the compressive strength of the cubes
increased up to c/p ratio of 3·0 and then decreased. The maximum
strength obtained was 5·4 MPa for a c/p ratio of 3·0. Moreover, it
was observed that cubes with a c/p ratio less than 1·5 underwent a
considerable amount of deformation before failure, which can be
attributed to the high paper content. However, beyond a c/p ratio of
2·0, failure was relatively brittle. This could be attributed to the
increased cement content of the paper concrete.
7.2 Variation of compressive strength with w/c ratio
The w/c ratio had a significant effect on cube strengths. As shown in
Figure 6, the compressive strength of the cubes for all c/p ratios
(from 0·5 to 4·0) followed the same trend. For a given c/p ratio, the
compressive strength was smallest for both low and high w/c ratios.
This could be attributed to inadequate compaction (by vibration)
due to the relatively dry nature of the paper concrete at low w/c
ratios and higher porosity (as shown in Figure 4) due to the
evaporation of excess water for high w/c ratios. The maximum
compressive strength was attained for the optimum w/c ratio for
each c/p ratio.
7.3 Variation of compressive strength with age
The blocks achieved 65–70% and 85–90% of their final strength
by day 7 and day 14 respectively. The compressive strengths at
different ages for different c/p ratios are shown in Table 2.
7.4 Weight loss of paper concrete cubes with age
Figure 7 shows that the paper concrete cubes lost weight
throughout the air curing period of 28 d, although weight loss
became negligible towards the end of day 28. The loss in weight
was proportional to the paper content. At the end of 28 d, cubes
with the highest paper content lost 30–50% of their initial weight
(i.e. weight after demoulding). This could be attributed to the high
water-holding capacity of newsprint paper (2·5 times its weight):
the concretes with a higher paper content absorbed more water,
which evaporated as time progressed, leading to greater weight loss.
The paper concrete cubes with the lowest paper contents lost
41
 Engineering Sustainability Studies on strength and weight loss of
Volume 169 Issue ES1 paper concrete
Balaga and Nanthagopalan

WD Mag HV Det VacMode 100·0 µm WD Mag HV Det VacMode 500·0 µm

11·0 mm 800× 15·0 kV ETD High vacuum CRNTS IITB 12·6 mm 150× 15·0 kV ETD High vacuum CRNTS IITB
(a)
Figure 4. SEM micrograph of the interface of cement paste and
paper fibres

6 -
Compressive strength: MPa

5 -

4 -

3 -

2 -

1 -

0
-

0·5 1·0 1·5 2·0 2·5 3·0 3·5 4·0 4·5

c/p: ratio

Figure 5. Effect of c/p ratio on compressive strength

WD Mag HV Det VacMode 100·0 µm
11·0 mm 800× 15·0 kV ETD High vacuum CRNTS IITB
6 - c/p ratio
(b)
0·5
Compressive strength: MPa

5 -
1·0
Figure 3. SEM micrograph of (a) paper fibres in cement paste and
(b) cement paste 1·5
4 -
2·0

3
- 3·0
about 25% of their initial weights, which could be attributed to the
4·0
lower absorption of water by the paper and the relatively higher -
2
consumption of water by cement for its hydration. Above a c/p ratio
of 2·0, there was no significant change in the percentage of weight 1
-

loss, as can be seen from the convergence of the curves for c/p
ratios 2·0, 3·0 and 4·0. 0
-

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
w/c ratio
8. Conclusions
This exploratory study attempted to develop paper concrete and Figure 6. Relationship between w/c ratios and compressive strength
understand its properties. Due to the materials used (Portland for different c/p ratios
pozzolana cement produced as waste from a thermal power plant

42

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 Engineering Sustainability Studies on strength and weight loss of
Volume 169 Issue ES1 paper concrete
Balaga and Nanthagopalan

Compressive strength: MPa mechanisms need to be developed in future research to overcome

these limitations. Possibilities include the use of accelerators
Age: d c/p = 1·0 c/p = 1·5 c/p = 2·0 c/p = 3·0 c/p = 4·0 for early strength gain, the use of polymer coatings to make the
material hydrophobic or the addition of sand particles to increase
7 0·96 1·43 2·12 3·86 1·49 dimensional stability and minimise shrinkage.
14 1·32 1·89 2·77 4·84 1·74
28 1·51 2·11 3·23 5·40 2·01 Acknowledgements
The authors thank Ramcharan Teja (BTech, IIT Bombay) and
Table 2. Compressive strengths for different c/p ratios (for different Praneeta Nehra (BTech, IIT Bombay) for their help in this project.
ages)
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