Durable mortar and concrete through use of natural materials with biopolymers-A review

The paper attempts to review the different types of the available natural biopolymers and the effects of these additions on the fresh and hardened properties of modern day Portland cement mortar and concrete. The paper further discusses the experimental data generated at the author's laboratory as a part of exploratory work carried out, on use of natural polymers and its impact on the properties of cements, mortars and concretes in terms of increased early strengths, air entraining effect, better adhesiveness, anti microbiological agent, improvement in plasticity and workability of the mortars and concrete, comparing the results of the natural biopolymeric additions with the commercially available additives/ admixtures used to induce similar properties in mortar and concrete. The paper concludes that the observed effects of use of these biopolymeric additions on the properties of Portland cement mortar and concrete would inspire more researchers to work in these areas and evolve natural admixtures, which would further add sustainability to the modern day concrete constructions.