Coir fiber (CF), a renewable natural plant fiber, is more competitive in improving poor toughness and crack resistance of magnesium phosphate cement (MPC) than artificial fibers, due to its slight energy consumptions and low costs in production and waste treatment. In this paper, a typical three-point bending test was carried out to study the effects of CF length on MPC flexural properties. A total of forty-two cuboid specimens were employed to investigate the flexural strength, load-deflection behavior, and flexural toughness of MPC, with CF lengths varying from 0 to 30 mm at the curing age of 7 days and 28 days. Results showed that, at both two curing ages, MPC flexural strength first increased with CF length increasing, and then deceased when CF length exceeded the threshold. However, with the increase of CF length, MPC flexural toughness increased continuously, while MPC elastic modulus displayed a decreasing trend. Additionally, Modern micro testing techniques, such as scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), were also used to study the microstructure and phase compositions of specimens for further explaining the themicroscopic mechanism.

Magnesium phosphate cement (MPC), a new type of inorganic cementitious material, is favored in engineering and construction because of its fast setting speed and high bonding strength, but is limited in practical application due to its high production cost and excessive release of hydration heat. Relevant research has investigated the application of discarded oyster shell powder (OSP) replacing cement mortar and has reported certain improvements to its performance. Consequently, focusing on discovering more effects of OSP on MPC performance, this study, by using a typical three-point bending test, used 45 cuboid specimens to investigate the influences of OSP mass content on flexural properties of MPC at different curing times. Results illustrated that MPC flexural strength was first increased and then decreased, and 3% is the critical value for OSP mass content. Similarly, the stiffness of all specimens presented a tendency to increase first and then decrease, with a maximum value of 36.18 kN/mm appearing at 3%, i.e., the critical OSP mass content. Finally, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were employed to analyze the microstructure and composition of specimens, confirming that the specimens generated not only the hydration product potassium phosphate magnesium (MgKPO₄·6H₂O, MKP), but also another new reactant (CaHPO₄·2H₂O).