Potential Application of Waste Hair Fibers to Develop Sustainable Fiber Reinforced Concrete

The low biodegradability of human hair results in huge accumulations of hair waste on land. Consequently, it causes a serious threat to the environment, human, and animal health. In addition to that, the decomposition of human hair by burning expels the chemical substance and produces odor in the air. Therefore, a safe clean decomposition of human hair is required to avoid hazards to the environment. The thin and long morphology of human hair is comparable with fibers. Various studies established the benefits of using the fibers (steel fibers and polypropylene fibers) to improve the properties of concrete. Hitherto, a very limited study has been reported on the usage of human hair microfibers (HHMF) in the field of concrete. Therefore, the present experimental study aims at finding the mechanical property, durability, and microstructure of concrete containing HHMF determining in mono and hybrid form. The addition of HHMF in mono and hybrid form improves the mechanical properties and durability of concrete. The HHMF in hybrid form exhibits a better performance compare to mono-HHMF. The addition of human hair as microfiber using 12, 24, and 36 mm of length (hybrid form) in a fraction of 2% by weight of cement revealed the maximum improvement. The SEM images show that the HHMF provides a strong bonding with the matrix, arresting cracks efficiently and providing densified microstructure thus improving the properties of cement concrete.