# name
Magnesium phosphate cement incorporating sheep wool fibre for thermal insulation applications

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
The increasing use of synthetic fibres in clothing and the high quality of sheep wool fibre (SWF) from the Australian and New Zealand market leads to a decline in the interest in SWFs produced in European countries, considering them as waste that could be valorised within the framework of a circular economy. The use of natural fibre in cement-based composites presents the main issue of durability due to the alkaline pH media of conventional cement. The use of a low-pH cement could improve the viability of combining natural fibres in this low-pH cement as matrix for developing composites. One of these low-pH cements is magnesium phosphate cement (MPC). As a ceramic material the MPC presents high thermal conductivity (~1 W m-1 K-1) to be used as isolating material. The present work combines MPC formulated with an industrial by-product (low-grade magnesium oxide; LG-MgO) and Spanish SWF, to develop new sustainable cement-based materials (Sust-MPC-SWF) for thermal building insulation applications. The physical, thermal, and mechanical properties of Sust-MPC-SWF were evaluated to determine the optimal formulation through a design of experiments (DoE). Thirteen formulations designed by DoE were conducted with different sheep wool fibre/cement (SWF/C) and sheep wool fibre/extra water (SWF/EW) ratios. A statistical model was obtained and the optimal formulation (SWF/C = 0.36 and SWF/EW = 0.25) was validated. The increase in SWF content led to an enhancement of thermal and acoustic insulation properties of Sust-MPC-SWF, with similar results to other building materials commercialized with these features.

# metadata.dc.relation.ispartof[].value
Journal of Building Engineering, 2023, vol. 76, num. 107043

# metadata.dc.rights[].value
cc-by-nc-nd (c) Maldonado Alameda, Alex et al., 2023

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Articles publicats en revistes (Ciència dels Materials i Química Física)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Magnesium phosphate cement incorporating sheep wool fibre for thermal insulation applications