Microstructure of Bio-Based Building Materials: New Insights into the Hysteresis Phenomenon and Its Consequences

Considering the current energy environment, both efficient and environmentally friendly solutions have to be developed for building construction. Bio-based building materials offer new perspectives through their insulating and natural humidity regulation capacities. Nevertheless, these materials are as complex as they are promising, and grey areas still remain regarding their behavior. Their water sorption and desorption curves recorded in experimental work demonstrate a hysteresis phenomenon and, although plausible hypotheses have been formulated in the literature, there is currently no consensus on its causes. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that no reference considers the hydrophilic nature of the resource. Yet, this is a specificity of raw material coming from the plant world. In this context, this paper explores the microstructure and chemical composition of plant aggregates to propose a new explanation for the hysteresis. It is based on recent work demonstrating the existence of differentiated hydrogen bonds between the water sorption and desorption phase in cellulose. Obviously, hysteresis also has an origin at the molecular scale. Lastly, the hypothesis put forward here is supported by the swelling of bio-based materials that has been observed at high relative humidity, and this study aims to identify a link between the mechanics of bio-based materials and their hygroscopic behavior. A swelling/shrinking is macroscopically observed. Combining the fields of chemistry, physics, and civil engineering allowed us to demonstrate that it comes from a molecular-scale hydromechanical coupling. This is a major breakthrough in the understanding of bio-based composites.