Babassu Fibers as Green Mortar Additives Batista de Oliveira Libório Dourado, João López-Galindo, Alberto Babassu epicarp fibers Cementitious mortars Physical properties Mechanical properties Fiber-cement matrix interaction Babassu carbohydrate fibers (BCF) are abundant and renewable materials that are currently underutilized. The present work evaluates the use of alkaline- treated BCF (TF − 0.6, 1.0, 1.4% w/w) as additive to cementitious mortars. Mass consistency, specific mass, water absorption, void ratio, and porosity, as well as compressive and indirect tension fracture strengths, were evaluated and compared to control mortars (without fiber addition). The results confirmed that the treated BCF can be an effective alternative as a potential reinforcement in cementitious composites. Furthermore, they are prepared by an alkaline treatment that is easy to operate, cost-effective, and efficient. The addition of BCF to the cement matrix decreased the water absorption capacity and void ratio, whereas increased compressive and tensile strength compared to mortars prepared in the absence of BCF. In particular, the addition of 1.0% of TF increased the compressive strength by up to 77%. Good interfacial adhesion of the alkaline-treated BCF with the rest of mortar components resulted in an increase in the values of mechanical properties. The studied fibers are potential materials for new sustainable mortars with improved properties. 2023-10-24T07:23:19Z 2023-10-24T07:23:19Z 2023-09-21 info:eu-repo/semantics/article João Batista de Oliveira Libório Dourado, Maria Elayne Rodrigues Alves, Wilson Alves de Oliveira Júnior, Bruna Leal Melo de Oliveira, Hitalo de Jesus Bezerra da Silva, Alberto López-Galindo, César Viseras, Marcelo Barbosa Furtini & Valdeci Bosco dos Santos (2023) Babassu Fibers as Green Mortar Additives, Journal of Natural Fibers, 20:2, 2256471, [DOI: 10.1080/15440478.2023.2256471] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/85193 10.1080/15440478.2023.2256471 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 4.0 Internacional Taylor&Francis