Effect of Biopolymer Alginate on some properties of concrete

Abstract

Alginate from Large brown seaweeds act as natural polymer has been investigated as polymer and has been added to concrete in different percentages ( 0% , 0.5% , 1% and 1.5% ) by the cement weight and the study show the effect of using alginate biopolymer admixtures on  some of the fresh properties of the concrete (slump &  the density  fresh) also in the hardened state (  Compressive strength , Splitting tensile strength  and Flexural strength ) at 28 days. The mix proportion was (1:2.26:2.26) (cement: sand: gravel) respectively and at constant w/c equal to 0.47. The results indicate that the use of alginate as a percent of the cement weight possess a positive effect on fresh properties of concrete at 28 days. In other words, increasing the percentages of alginate addition has enhanced the slump and fresh density of concrete at 28 days, so the 1.5% alginate addition as percent of the  cement weight showed the higher percentage of increasing where it was 2.5% for fresh density and 41%for slump of concrete at 28days compared with the reference mix without any addition, also the hardened properties (compression ,splitting tensile and flexural strength) at 28 days showed an increasing when using alginate  at a percentage from the cement weight, so the    highest increase was at 0.5% and 1.5% of alginate addition where it was about 40%.