Thermal and mechanical properties of fabricated plaster of Paris filled with groundnut seed coat and waste newspaper materials for structural application

Abstract

This work sought to assess the suitability of using boards produced with plaster of Paris (P.O.P) and various weight proportions of groundnut seed coat (GSC) as well as P.O.P and similar proportions of waste newspaper paste (WNP) as ceiling in building design. The results obtained from the investigation of thermal and mechanical properties of the fabricated boards revealed that with the use of GSC as filler, the samples were of higher mean values of specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity, thermal absorptivity, but lower mean values of bulk density, thermal diffusivity, percentage water absorption, flaking concentration and flexural strength when compared to the samples with similar proportions of WNP as filler content. Also, the sample with 13.8% content of GSC and the one containing 22.5% of WNP were found to exhibit an impressive performance. Generally, it was observed that the samples filled with either GSC or WNP were lighter than pure P.O.P samples and the recorded values for all the measured properties favoured them for use as ceiling material in buildings. It is noteworthy that the proportion of the filler can be adjusted for optimum performance of such environmentally-friendly and cost-effective ceilings. Utilizing groundnut seed coat and waste newspapers as filler materials in fabrication of P.O.P ceiling can help to reduce environment pollution level, ensure better thermal insulation of buildings and solve the lingering problem of high cost of using P.O.P or other conventional materials as ceiling in buildings by the end-users.