Natural fibre reinforced composites: A review based on additive manufacturing routes and biodegradability perspective

Abstract

Natural fibres derived from plants, animals, and minerals have been used by humans since the start of civilization. Since then, with the changing human needs, these naturally occurring fibres are finding new applications and uses. Due to their high specific strength, low density, and biocompatibility, these natural fibres have found use as filler materials in advanced composite materials in the 21st century. In an environment concerned and the energy-hungry world, another notable stride towards sustainable engineering is the use of additive manufacturing. Due to its low energy consumption, minimal material wastage, and easy fabricability of complicated parts, additive manufacturing has gained attention as the norm of the future. Hence, there has been increasing popularity to try and manufacture composite reinforced with natural fibres through the additive manufacturing route. In this paper, we have tried to summarize the recent developments in the field of additive manufacturing of Natural fibre reinforced composites. Comprehensive discussions regarding the different kinds of natural fibres, additive manufacturing routes, pre-processing of natural fibres and their biodegradability have been included. In the end, we have drawn some conclusions and have suggested future directions to the research.