Plant Fiber-Reinforced Thermoset and Thermoplastic-based biocomposites

Abstract

This chapter reviews the recent progress in plant fiber-reinforced composites and their applications. It discusses composites with thermoplastic, thermoset, and rubber matrices. The chapter describes different types of commonly used natural fibers as reinforcement, their chemical treatments, thermal and mechanical properties. It focuses on the processing of natural fiber-reinforced composites and their structure-property relations. The chapter evaluates the physical, thermal, and mechanical properties of thermoplastic, thermoset, and rubber- based composites with respect to processing, fiber content, and matrix type. High-strength natural fiber composites are products of natural fiber reinforcement in polymers, which provide biodegradability, enhanced properties related to mechanical structure. Reinforced fiber composite materials based on thermoplastic materials are being increasingly used in many areas of technology. Thermoplastics widely used for biofibers are polyethylene, polypropylene (PP), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC); here phenolic, polyester, and epoxy resins are mostly utilized thermosetting matrices. Biocomposites are considered one of the main green materials.