A brief review on the effect of alkali treatment on mechanical properties of various natural fiber reinforced polymer composites

Abstract

Abstract In recent decades, the research groups in academia and industries have been actively working for the development of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites. These natural fibers are having the extraordinary properties such as low density, recyclability, combustible, biodegradable, non-abrasive, nontoxic and high specific properties. However, the applications of natural fibers are still limited due to numerous factors such as poor wettability, water absorption, meager mechanical properties and interfacial bonding. The poor wettability at the interaction of the reinforcement and matrix is one of the main drawbacks encountered in natural fiber reinforced composites. To overcome this problem, the natural fiber surface must be modified by mechanical, chemical or physical technique before going to fabricate the composite. Mercerization or alkali treatment is one of the most common chemical treatment methods to modify and clean the surface of natural fiber to improve interfacial bonding and lower surface tension. The present review paper studies the effect of chemical treatment on mechanical properties of various natural fiber reinforced polymer composite materials. The study also reports a comparison of the chemical, mechanical and physical properties of the several natural fibers. A lot of research work has been done on the mechanical characterization of alkali treated natural fibers such as flax, hemp, kenaf, sisal, coir, banana, abaca, jute and pineapple reinforced polymer composites.