The Development Study Of Corn Silk As A

Component In Making Hollow Bricks

Majelyn Durante

Rachelle Ann Cabiltes

Ma. Sophia Elyn R. Rivera

11-STEM
 Abstract

The researcher came up with the idea of making a bricks that is made from Corn Silk. Taking
into account corn silk, after extracting the corn, is generally considered an agricultural waste, an
interesting economic and sustainable benefit may result by using it as a building material.
Therefore, it can be an alternative sustainable lightweight aggregate solution in comparison to
the most currently applied ones such as expanded clay, particles of cork, particles of expanded
The density, the compressive strength and the thermal insulation properties of a corn cob
concrete were experimentally quantified. An expanded clay concrete was also studied as
reference. The main results obtained are presented and discussed showing that the proposed corn
cob concrete may have the adequate material properties required for a lightweight concrete for
non-structural application purposes.

Introduction

Housing over the years has been regarded as one of the most important needs of man and
as such the demand for it is always on the increase. This increasing demand for housing has been
a major problem facing governments in most developing countries around the globe. Ghana’s
housing deficit stood at about 300,000 and it was estimated that about 1.2 million new housing
units were needed by the year 2005. This indicates that over 133,000 new housing units are
expected to be delivered annually to meet the target. However, only 25,000 units were produced
leaving an unsatisfied annual demand of 108,000 units. As a result, shift dwelling units such as
kiosks, tents, cargo containers, served as homes for 1.9% of the population, besides the 3% who
are homeless (Mahama & Antwi 2006; GSS 2012). A current study of the affordable housing
initiated by governments over the years in Ghana have had marginal impact as the low-income
earners who form the majority of the population lack the financial muscle to have access to some
of these decent and affordable housing facilities.
 As evident in most developing countries, it is almost impossible to fulfill the immense
requirements for shelter neither with conventional construction techniques, nor with
conventional building materials i.e. concrete, aluminum and steel which are noted for their high
energy consumption during production and associated negative environmental impacts (Minke
2006). In Ghana, most buildings are constructed with cement blocks, burnt-clay blocks, timber,
and concrete which could be afforded by relatively few due to their high cost. As a way of
ensuring a sustainable environment and efficient use of resources, there has been the promotion
of building materials from locally available natural and renewable materials. One of these
options is there placement of cement blocks and blocks with soil blocks. Soil has been one of the
major building materials in Ghana since pre-colonial days and is readily available with low
procurement cost.

The main drawbacks of using soil block as a building material is the need for continuous
maintenance due to its low durability and poor resistance to water (Adam &Agip 2001). Soil
blocks have also been found to suffer from shrinkage cracking and most importantly low
strength making them unsuitable for homes of more than

two-storeys high. This has led to the stabilization of soil blocks with cement, lime,bitumen so as
to improve its properties (Kamang 1998) even though most of these stabilizers are costly and
unsustainable. Stabilization of soil is the process of modifying the soil properties in relation to its
strength, texture, voids and water resisting properties, so as to obtain permanent properties
compatible with a particular application. Rigassi (1985) reiterated that, stabilizing soil leads to
ireversible change in the physical properties of soil depending on the quality of building design,
materials employed, economic aspects of the project, or on issues of durability. The use and
adoption of the right stabilization method can improve the compressive strength of a soil by as
much as 400% to 500%with other supplementary characteristics such as increased cohesion,
reduced permeability, improved water repellent, increased durability and minimal shrinkage and
expansion of soil during dry and wet conditions (Adam & Agip 2001).

Corn is the largest staple crop as it accounts for 50-60% of total cereals produced in Ghana.
It currently has an annual production of 1.7 million metric tons indicating a growth rate of
13.33%, which accounts for more than 4% of the country’s agricultural gross domestic product
(Halm et al. 2004). It is used as human food in the form of tortillas, porridge, popcorn and
barbecues and as forage and silage for animals. The corn husk which is the thin cellulose-rich
leafy sheath that covers the corn cobs contains high cellulose content and has been exploited for
different applications including the development of cellulose-rich fibers, paper making,as solid
substrate for citric acid production and for wrapping dough in the preparation of Ga kenkey
(Ahenkora et al. 2012). In spite of having been associated with so many applications, it is not
an uncommon practice to dispose-off corn husks along with corn stalk and leaves either by
burning or tilling into the soil in developing countries like Ghana. As a way of ensuring a
sustainable environment, researchers are focusing on ways of utilizing industrial and agricultural
wastes of which corn husk is an example. Nazir et al. (2012) reiterated that the ash of the corn
husk is believed to possess substantial amount of siliceous compounds making it a Pozzolanic
material. This property makes it feasible to function as a cementitious material by improving the
binding forces between the soil particles (Kevern & Wang 2010).

Methodology

Materials:

 Grava

 Corn Silk

 Sand

 Water

 Corn Cob
Procedure:

 First, prepare the materials

 Then, mix the cement and sand

 After you mix the cement and sand, put water and mix it.

 You need to put the

Statement Of The Problem

Nowadays, the world’s population has developing in a rapid growth. Thus, the production of
wastes also increasing. Besides, since the population is increasing, the construction of buildings
such as houses which are needed by human beings will also increasing. Along with this situation,
the construction materials such as bricks will be highly demanded by contractors and will be
produced in huge quantity by the suppliers. Generally, there are many types of bricks
manufactured in the factories all around the world. The most common brick used in Malaysia is
clay brick but its production is really limited since clay is hardly to get and it’s quite expensive.
Thus, cement sand bricks will be used to replace clay brick which is much way cheaper. The
materials needed to form cement sand brick are sand, cement and water.
 Besides, getting in line with the increase number of population, the vast production of
wastes, either originally came from industrial or agricultural sectors are increasing day by day.
These wastes should be considered to be reduced or removed completely since Malaysia doesn’t
have enough spaces to process them. Nonetheless, the researchers have gathered their
consciences regarding this issue. Nowadays, they have executed researches on the agricultural
by-product wastes such as corn husk ash, olive’s seed, corn cobs, palm kernels, coconut shells,
and many more into the blocks production and fortunately, they have found out some positive
impacts on the bricks. Besides, if this huge production of wastes are not treated properly, they
will give harms to the environment such as the emission of bad smells as they are mostly
biodegradable. Besides, it is such a waste if these wastes are being ignored and thrown away as
they have many potentials to be found. Hence, to reduce the risk of polluting the environment
and human health, the invention of green brick is believed to be a practical solution to this
problem.

Hypothesis

Significance of the Study