Abstract
Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) is one of the most available and widely produced bast fibers with high cellulose content. Interest in these fibers is warranted due to environmental protection challenges as well as their inherent properties such as low density, high specific strength, and stiffness. In addition, advanced research and progress have gone into increasing their mechanical performance through surface treatments and in the development of new materials. The most promising application for hemp fibers is as reinforcement in polymeric composites or through hybridization. Nonetheless, more research is needed to improve their properties and expand their range of applications. The biodegradability issue is one problem that must be addressed when considering long life-cycle applications as the reproducibility of these composites’ final properties. This review is a comprehensive literature review on hemp fibers. It includes hemp fibers’ chemical and mechanical properties, surface modifications, hybrid composites, as well as current and future applications.
Highlights
Environmental protection is one of the greatest challenges facing the current generation [1]
Due to increasing environmental concern and protection, the number of available studies dealing with the potential use of natural fibers in developing thermoset and thermoplastics composites as well as improving their mechanical performance through physical and chemical surface treatments is growing
The thermoset composites can be recycled by three methods: (1) chemical recycling refers to processes like pyrolysis in which the material is heated in an oxygen-free environment to produce one or more recoverable substances, (2) in particle recycling, the thermoset composite is mechanically milled into particles to be used as a filler in new plastic or composite applications as a replacement for calcium carbonate or talc, and (3) energy recycling refers to the possibility of incinerating the material to recover energy from its organic portion [63]
Summary
Environmental protection is one of the greatest challenges facing the current generation [1]. Joshi et al [12] compared the life-cycle assessment of three components made from natural fiber-reinforced composites and glass fiber-reinforced composites. They found that natural fiber-reinforced composites emerged more environmentally friendly, mainly for three reasons:. (1) natural fiber production had the lower environmental impacts, (2) natural fiber composites had higher fiber content for equivalent performance, which reduced the volume and weight of the base polymeric matrix, and (3) the lower weight of the resultant components reduced the emissions and fuel consumption in its life cycle. The life-cycle assessment, performed by La Rosa et al [13], showed that hemp mats in glass fiber-reinforced thermoset composites are more environmentally friendly than the conventional single use of glass fiber, due to the reduction of glass fiber and resin content. This review article describes the recent research works related to various aspects of hemp fibers and their use in the reinforcement of composites
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