An examination of the impact of waste plastic fibers and nanomaterials on concrete properties

Rising construction activity is a major driver of have led to a significant environmental pollution due to the CO2 emission from the cement sector. This study addressed the issue by incorporating of waste plastic fibers at 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4% by weight of cement, combined with 2.5% nano titanium dioxide (TiO2). The main objective of this study was to assess how these plastic fibers influence the mechanical and fresh properties of concrete. Investigation focused on various concrete properties, including water absorption, mechanical strength such as compressive strength, split tensile strength, and flexural strength, as well as non-destructive testing methods such as Rebound hammer test. High magnification scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were used to analyze the surface morphology of the concrete micro structure samples after 28 days of curing with different fiber percentages. The study revealed that the compressive strength did not show a significant increase. However, the flexural strength improved by approximately 32.7%, and the split tensile strength increased by about 16.88% with the addition of 2.5% nano TiO2 and 2% waste plastic fibers.