Experimental development of clay bricks reinforced with agricultural by-products.

The valorisation of agricultural co-products, by-products and wastes may play a significant role in the framework of the concept of bio-economy, which is referred to the transition from a linear to a circular economy, based on the exploitation of by-products and transformation of residues from waste to new resources. After contributing to the restoration of the level of organic matter in the soil, these biomasses could be indeed valorised in different ways, e.g., as added-value components in other industrial sectors (nutraceutical, cosmetic, etc.), as alternative fuel in energy plants, or in the construction sector, in which they could be incorporated in some building elements with the aim to increase their technical performance. In order to verify the possibility of employing two among the most diffused agricultural by-products (i.e., wheat straw and sheep wool), some experimental bricks realized with clay mixed with these vegetal and animal fibres were prepared. These bricks (so-called “adobe”) were tested in their mechanical properties, in order to highlight the differences between the two types of bricks and to evaluate the possibility to use them as building elements in bio-architecture. The results of the mechanical tests showed that the compression strength of the adobe bricks prepared with sheep wool was significantly higher than those incorporating wheat straw, while these latter have exhibited a shrinkage lower than adobe bricks realized without any additive fibre.