A brief review on natural fiber used as a replacement of synthetic fiber in polymer composites

Abstract

The use of composites in different sectors has become inevitable due to the enhancement in properties, reduction in the manufacturing cost and suitability to several applications. Among different classifications, polymeric composites are mainly focused on their use as structural components and the selection and composition of reinforcement play a vital role in determining the characteristics of the composite. Although composites are developed with man-made reinforcement in the beginning stage, in the present situation, natural reinforcements have proved excellent results in terms of properties. Hence, nowadays researches are mainly focused on the use of different natural fibers in different forms as reinforcements in a polymeric composite. This work presents a brief overview of the properties of natural fiber and natural fiber reinforced composites which is an emerging area in polymer science. Interests in natural fiber are reasonable due to the advantages of these materials compared to others, such as synthetic fiber composites, including low environmental impact and low cost and support their potential to be used. Moreover, the disadvantage of the synthetic and fiberglass as reinforcement, the use of natural fiber reinforced composite gained the attention of the young scientists, researchers, and engineers and are being exploited as a replacement for the conventional fiber such as glass, aramid, carbon, etc. Natural fibers have been proven alternative to synthetic fiber in transportation such as automobiles, railway coaches and aerospace, military, building, packaging, consumer products, and construction industries for ceiling paneling, partition boards, etc. However, in the development of these composites, some drawbacks have also emerged. In this paper, it has been tried to overview all of this together.