Hemp-Straw Composites: Gluing Study and Multi-Physical Characterizations

Abstract

In order to meet the requirement of sustainable development, building materials are increasingly environmentally friendly. They can be partially or fully bio-based or recycled. This paper looks at the development of fully bio-based composites where agro-resources are valued as bio-based aggregates (hemp) and as binding materials (wheat). In a previous work, a feasibility study simultaneously investigated the processing and ratio of wheat straw required to ensure a gluing effect. In this paper, three kinds of hemp-straw composites are selected and compared with a hemp-polysaccharides composite. The gluing effect is analyzed chemically and via SEM. The developed composites were characterized multi-physically. They showed sufficiently high mechanical properties to be used as insulating materials. Furthermore, they showed good thermal performances with a low thermal conductivity (67.9–69.0 mW/(m · K) at 23 ° C, dry).