Natural Fibrous Materials Research Articles

Oil Spill Cleanup Using Chemically Modified Natural Fibers: Trial for Practical Application

An oil spill was simulated in a basin connected to the sea, which presents inside the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries. Two available natural fibrous materials were used after modification as sorbent materials for the treatment of oil spills. Sorption capacities of LCLA and PFLA onto crude oil were preliminarily examined in the laboratory before applying in the field. An amount of LCLA and PFLA were wrapped in a polyester circular pad. Cylindrical-shaped acrylic vessels, with perforated sides, were fixed with cork sheets to keep them floating on the water surface. 1.1 mm thickness of light crude oil was spilled inside the acrylic vessels. LCLA and PFLA containing pads were then dipped into an oil layer floating on seawater. Pads were laid into the interface between oil and seawater for 30 min (one pad per vessel). Sorption capacities were measured as 11.0 and 9.8 as gram oil per gram of sorbent for LCLA and PFLA, respectively. These results were close to the sorption capacities produced in the laboratory using the same oil and sorbent materials indicating that the tested sorbents have a cheerful application in the real field.

A Review on Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite for Bullet Proof and Ballistic Applications.

Even though natural fiber reinforced polymer composites (NFRPCs) have been widely used in automotive and building industries, there is still a room to promote them to high-level structural applications such as primary structural component specifically for bullet proof and ballistic applications. The promising performance of Kevlar fabrics and aramid had widely implemented in numerous ballistic and bullet proof applications including for bullet proof helmets, vest, and other armor parts provides an acceptable range of protection to soldiers. However, disposal of used Kevlar products would affect the disruption of the ecosystem and pollutes the environment. Replacing the current Kevlar fabric and aramid in the protective equipment with natural fibers with enhanced kinetic energy absorption and dissipation has been significant effort to upgrade the ballistic performance of the composite structure with green and renewable resources. The vast availability, low cost and ease of manufacturing of natural fibers have grasped the attention of researchers around the globe in order to study them in heavy armory equipment and high durable products. The possibility in enhancement of natural fiber’s mechanical properties has led the extension of research studies toward the application of NFRPCs for structural and ballistic applications. Hence, this article established a state-of-the-art review on the influence of utilizing various natural fibers as an alternative material to Kevlar fabric for armor structure system. The article also focuses on the effect of layering and sequencing of natural fiber fabric in the composites to advance the current armor structure system.

Seismic performance of concrete joints strengthened with hybrid-fibre-reinforced polymers

This paper presents the results of experimental and numerical investigations performed on nine one-third scaled exterior beam–column joints. They were first damaged in a displacement-controlled manner with constant column axial load and reverse cyclic load at the tip of the beams. The damaged joints were then repaired with new concrete and strengthened with hybrid-fibre-reinforced polymer laminates. These had combinations of natural and glass fibre mat and chopped laminations together with eight layers of glass-fibre-reinforced polymer wrapping. The aim was to restore and enhance seismic capacity parameters such as strength, stiffness, ductility and energy dissipation. It was observed that specimens with hybrid fibre mat laminations and glass-fibre wrapping exhibited a better performance in terms of ductility, with up to 81% increase. Numerical investigations were carried out using finite-element software to validate the experimental results. It was observed that the numerical results were in good agreement.

Investigation on the Effect of Nano Fillers on Tensile Property of Neem Fiber Composite Fabricated by Vacuum Infused Molding Technique

Now a days, natural fiber based polymer composites are having more attention because of it is good mechanical properties and environment friendly. The foremost aim of this investigation attempt is for examine the effect of the nano-filler over the tensile properties of natural based polymer composite.. Just one nano-material is used in most of the research for the production of new composites. In this analysis, the vacuum assisted by infusion molding method uses the neem fiber and two different nano-filler materials for creating new nano infused composites. Neem fiber is chosen as a fiber and LY556 epoxy-resin is selected as polymer materials for the production of reinforced polymer matrix composites of this natural fiber material. Composites of the neem fiber based polymer composites is developed by infused the neem fiber with the nano to examine the tensile property of the neem fiber infused composite and the effect of nano-filler materials. By infusing nan-ofiller materials to build nano based natural fiber polymer composites; the average ultimate tensile strength for the polymer matrix composite is 15.5 percent.

Effect of pine needle fibre reinforcement on the mechanical properties of concrete

To meet the requirements of energy savings, green environmental protection and sustainable development in engineering construction, the use of natural biomasses as raw materials for engineering construction has become a focus of research in recent years. Pinaceae plants are widely distributed worldwide. The leaves (pine needles) of Pinaceae plants are renewable, numerous and have a low utilization rate, and they have the potential tobe developed into natural plant fibre materials. Therefore, this paper selects Masson pine needle fibre (MPNF) to study the influence of this plant fibre on the mechanical properties of concrete, demonstrates the feasibility of adding MPNF to concrete, and provides a theoretical basis for the promotion of pine needle fibre-reinforced concrete composite materials. The MPNF was processed to a length of 30 mm and soaked in 2% NaOH solution, boiling water, or unheated water. After treatment, each type of MPNF was mixed with concrete at volumefractions of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2%, and then the mechanical properties were tested. Extract tests, industrial computer tomography (ICT), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to observe the extractive content, three-dimensional distribution, and surface structure of the MPNF for each pretreatment. The test results show that after pretreatment, MPNF can increase the compressive strength, splitting strength and modulus of rupture of concrete, as well as increase its ductility and toughness. This shows that it is feasible to incorporate MPNF into concrete, resulting in a new type of plant fibre-reinforced concrete composite material.

Synergism between Cutinase and Pectinase in the Hydrolysis of Cotton Fibers’ Cuticle

Scouring is one of the initial steps in the processing of natural textile fibers (e.g., cotton), performed to remove waxes and pectins, together with spinning oils and other impurities of the plant cell cuticle. Traditional chemical bleaching with boiling NaOH led to harsh removal of the entire fabric’s cuticle waxy layer accompanied by an unwanted alkaline waste. Extracellular lytic enzymes such as lipases, cellulases and pectinases play an essential role in host plant-pathogen interactions. They degrade the plant cuticle and tissue and enable pathogen invasion. Such enzymes, specifically cutinase and pectinase, have been considered potential bio-scouring agents to degrade the cotton fabric cuticle’s outer layer at low temperature and alleviate environmental pollution. In this work, the combined effect of cutinase, pectin lyase, or polygalacturonase on the scouring of cotton fabrics was studied using evaporative light-scattering reverse-phase HPLC and GC-MS analysis of the reaction components, and measuring changes in the cotton fabrics’ properties. The traditional method of cotton fabrics’ scouring with NaOH resulted in decreased pectin content and increased cellulose fibers accessibility, evaluated by specific staining. Treating the cotton fibers’ cuticle with cutinase led to the acidification of the reaction mixture, a decrease in enzyme-specific activity, and elevation in hexadecanoic acid and octadecanoic acids in the reaction fluid. These two saturated fatty acids are the main wax constituents of raw cotton fabrics, identified using GC-MS after dichloromethane reflux overnight. Treating cotton fabrics with each of the three enzymes, cutinase, pectin lyase, or polygalacturonase, increased their pectin removal, as measured by high concentrations of D-galacturonic acid and other pectin constituents in the reaction fluid. A synergistic effect was found in the combined treatment of cutinase and pectin lyase in the hydrolysis of the cotton fibers’ cuticle. This effect was expressed in high water absorbency of the treated fibers, increased fabric weight loss and sharp elevation of a cutin and pectin monomer’s related peaks (retention time [RT] = 4.1 min and 2.9, 4.5 min, respectively). A model was suggested for the synergistic action between cutinase and pectin lyase. It assumes that the cuticle’s digestion by cutinase results in the enlargement and formation of outer layer micropores, which enables the rapid penetration of pectinase into the inner pectin layer.

Recent advancement in the fabrication and characterization of natural fiber reinforced composite: A review

At present, use of synthetic fiber is not suggested in many fields due to various environmental effects. In order to maintain the ecological balance natural fiber based composite have drawn wide attention because of low cost, light weight, high strength, long lasting, renewable and corrosion resistance. This paper presents several natural fiber based composites (Jute, Basalt, Coir, Sisal) and their methods of preparation. By proper synthesis and treatment of natural fiber various mechanical properties of the natural fiber can be enhanced, which makes them suitable for various industries such as automotive industries, aerospace industry, marine industry and in building construction.

Tensile properties and regression analysis of natural fiber and intralaminar mat reinforcement

The aeronautics and the automotive industries are continually demanding for lighter and more resistant materials in order to enhance the efficiency and consistency of their systems. Composite materials have proved to be an exceptional solution to this demand, especially the polymeric composite with reinforcing natural fibers, due to their high strength and rigidity, allied to their low density. In this paper, the main objective is to test the tensile properties of jute, bamboo and intralaminar mat fibers. It was found that the jute possessed the highest tensile stress followed by bamboo and at last, was the mat. Likewise, the mat possessed the highest value with respect to maximum load followed by bamboo and jute, irrespective of cross head speed. Then, regression analysis for predicting the tensile strength of the fibers was done using MINITAB software and it was found that R 2 value was maximum for intralaminar mat which makes it the best among all chosen natural fibers in this study.

Structure of Collagen.

Collagen is the most abundant fibrous protein in nature and widely exists in tissues such as connective tissue, tendon, skin, bone, and cartilage. On the one hand, collagen provides mechanical support in tissues, and on the other hand, plays an important role in controlling cell adhesion, cell migration, and tissue repair. A systematic understanding of the structure of collagen can promote the understanding of the biological functions of collagen scaffolds, and also provide theoretical guidance for applications of these natural fibrous protein materials. Therefore, this chapter centers on introducing the structure of collagen. As collagen has a typical hierarchical structure, the introduction to its structure will also be divided into different structural levels, from primary structure to quaternary structure. Due to the diversity of collagen types, this chapter will mainly focus on type I collagen.

The bHLH transcription factor GhPAS1 mediates BR signaling to regulate plant development and architecture in cotton

Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is the most important natural textile fiber crop in the world. The ideal plant architecture of cotton is suitable for mechanical harvesting and productivity in modern agricultural production. However, cotton genes regulating plant development and architecture have not been fully identified. We identified a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, GhPAS1 (PAGODA1 SUPPRESSOR 1) in G. hirsutum (Upland cotton). GhPAS1 was located in the nucleus and showed a strong transcription activation effect. Tissue-specific expression patterns showed that GhPAS1 was highly expressed in floral organs, followed by high expression in early stages of ovule development and rapid fiber elongation. GhPAS1 overexpression in Arabidopsis and BRZ (brassinazole, BR biosynthesis inhibitor) treatment indicated that GhPAS1 positively regulates and responds to the BR (brassinosteroid) signaling pathway and promotes cell elongation. GhPAS1 overexpression in Arabidopsis mediated plant development in addition to increasing plant biomass. Virus-induced gene silencing of GhPAS1 indicated that down-regulation of GhPAS1 inhibited cotton growth and development, as plant height, fruit branch length, and boll size of silenced plants were lower than in control plants. Fiber length and seed yield were also lower in silenced plants. We conclude that GhPAS1, a bHLH transcription factor, regulates plant development and architecture in cotton. These findings may help breeders and researchers develop cotton cultivars with desirable agronomic characteristics.

Studi Potensi Resiko Tanah Lunak dalam Pembangunan Ibu Kota Negara dengan Ajuan Penanganan Menggunakan Metode Prefabricated Vertical Drain Berbahan Alami

Pemindahan ibu kota pemerintahan ke sebagian Kabupaten Penajam Paser Utara dan sebagian di Kabupaten Kutai Kertanegara, Provinsi Kalimantan Timur, akan segera dimulai. Namun berdasarkan penelitian dan kasus terdahulu, terdapat potensi lahan dengan sifat tanah lunak di wilayah sekitar Ibu Kota Negara (IKN). Investigasi lapangan dan laboratorium mengungkapkan bahwa pada wilayah sekitar IKN terdapat tanah lunak yang ditunjukkan oleh hasil uji sondir dengan nilai tahanan konus kurang dari 10 kg/cm2. Tidak hanya tanah lunak, penyelidikan juga menunjukkan keberadaan potensi gerakan tanah, tanah mengembang, likuifaksi, dan tanah bersifat illitik dengan aktifitas sedang sampai sedang-tinggi. Penelitian ini merupakan studi literatur menggunakan data sekunder untuk mencoba memberi ajuan teknik untuk mengatasi potensi tanah lunak di IKN. Metode Preloading dengan Prefabricated Vertical Drain (PVD) adalah metode yang telah digunakan dalam mengatasi tanah lunak di beberapa pembangunan infrastruktur di Kalimantan. Namun, hasil uji laboratorium dan uji lapangan beberapa peneliti terdahulu menghasilkan bahwa material PVD konvensional berupa polimer dapat digantikan dengan bahan serat alami dari jute dan serabut kelapa. Tidak hanya lebih ramah lingkungan, namun hasil capaian efektifitas penurunan dan kapasitas penyaluran alir PVD bahan alami lebih baik dibanding PVD konvensional. Penggunaan teknik ini mendukung visi pembangunan IKN: Smart, Green, Beautiful, dan Sustainable.

Effect of Surface Modification on Mechanical Properties of Buri Palm (Corypha Utan) Fibre Composite Reinforcement

Natural fibre materials are replacing synthetic fibre materials since they are considered as a low-cost, lightweight, and biodegradability engineering materials with a good specific strength. However, the effects of some process and geometrical parameters (such as fibre type, size, and concentration, and chemical modification) on the strength of the final natural composite product are not well documented. The purpose of the research is to analyse the physical and mechanical properties of single-strand buri palm fibre under different conditions and surface modification. The buri palm fibre was treated using 5 wt.% and 10 wt.% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) with a duration of 1 and 24 h immersion throughout the whole process. For a single-strand test, the samples were carefully extracted from the corresponding woven fibre by hand. While the woven buri palm fibre composite was fabricated by employing 4 and 5-layering sequences in the hand lay-up technique followed by the compression method. The buri palm fibre showed that a higher concentration of NaOH solution and immersion period led to a lower density. The effectiveness of the alkali treatment in the removal of cellulose and hemicellulose from the fibre strands was verified by chemical composition in FTIR investigation. The highest tensile strength of 159.16 MPa was indicated from the result of single-strand treated with 5 wt.% NaOH for 24 h immersion. This treatment was found as the most appropriate treatment and is employed to fabricate both 4-layer and 5-layer stacking sequence composite. The 5-layer treated composite gives the highest tensile strength and flexural strength of 33.51 MPa and 56.72 MPa, respectively. In conclusion, the mechanical properties increased with the addition of each sequence layering treated fibres in the composite. The obtained results indicate that the utilisation of buri palm fibre as a reinforcement in the epoxy composite can be used in the lightweight and moderate load applications, such as the interior parts in the automotive industry.

High-oleic acid content, nontransgenic allotetraploid cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) generated by knockout of GhFAD2 genes with CRISPR/Cas9 system.

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), the most important cash crop for natural textile fibers, meanwhile, represents the fifth largest source of vegetable oil for human consumption in the world. Typically, cottonseed oil contains three major fatty acids: 26% palmitic acid, 15% oleic acid, and 58% linoleic acid (Liu et al., 2002). The relatively high level of linoleic acid reduces oxidative stability of cottonseed oil, which can cause rancidity, a short shelf life and production of detrimental trans-fatty acids (Shockey et al., 2017). Oleic acid has better oxidative stability than linoleic acid due to its monounsaturated nature, so it is considered a reliable and healthy fatty acid.

Date-Palm Fiber as a Reinforcement Filler in Polymer Composites

Natural fibers offer a great advantage of being used as a reinforcement in polymer matrix composites because of the many advantages natural fibers offer over conventional reinforcement fillers. Date palm fiber is one of the most available natural fibrous materials in the Middle Eastern region to be exploited as a fiber reinforcement in polymers. In the present work, the fibers extracted from the date palm tree trunk, branches, and leaves were used for the reinforcement of the polypropylene matrix. Electron microscopic images show excellent bonding between the fiber and matrix as no fiber pullout is observed. The thermal (heat deflection temperature) and mechanical properties (Izod impact, tensile and flexural modulus) of the composites increased with an increase in the fiber loading from 20% to 60%, which in turn resulted in excellent mechanical properties in the final product. The work has immense significance in using date palm as an easily available natural resource for a useful product.

Dry sliding wear behaviour of bamboo/basalt hybrid composite

ABSTRACT Now-a-days, natural fiber materials are acquiring much importance in the manufacturing sectors due to properties such as easy fabrication, light weight, low cost of production etc. Hence attention has been focused on the utilization of natural fibers for the production of fiber-reinforced materials. In the present experiment, synthetic fiber (Basalt) is hybridized with natural fiber (Bamboo) to enhance the properties of natural fiber. The Tribological behaviour was investigated with a digitally operated pin-on-disc (POD) wear and friction testing machine at different working parameters. The working parameters include varying sliding speed (1 m/s, 2 m/s, 3 m/s and 4 m/s) and varying applied load (10 N, 15 N, 20 N and 25 N). The sliding range is kept constant for all the working parameters at 1800 m. The wear loss v/s load is being plotted with the help of the parameters obtained. The results showed that as the load increases, wear loss under dry sliding condition increases. The results also revealed that with the increase in percentage of basalt fiber, wear loss decreases. The COF of raw bamboo fiber composite is high compared to the fabricated hybrid composite.

Luffa Cylindrica as a durable biofiber reinforcement for epoxy systems

Luffa Cylindrica (LC) is the dried fruit of a sponge-type plant belonging to Curcubitacea family. Recent advancements in hierarchical and lightweight structures have aroused interest in this natural fibrous material for illustrating an extraordinary multi-porous architecture of high anisotropy and low density. To the extent of its biodegradable nature, such a structure is potentially apt to replace conventional porous-like composites for low-energy absorbing and material reinforcing applications. In order to investigate its candidacy as a long-term sustainable reinforcement, a LC layer is impregnated with an epoxy resin (ER) system and subjected to tensile creep tests within the linear viscoelastic regime. Specimens loaded with 30% weight fraction of LC fibers are tested at four stress levels corresponding to 5%, 8%, 10% and 15% of the static tensile strength σu of the composite. The viscoelastic response of the LC/ER composite is found improved with respect to that of the pure polymer. This improvement is reflected to the creep strain and compliance that decreased by 30%. The creep results are subsequently probed by means of the four–parameter (Burger) analytical model to gain insight on the viscoelastic behavior.

Investigation of the mechanical properties of Acacia tortilis fiber reinforced natural composite

The work presented in this paper is motivated by the fact that use of natural fiber materials for structural and non-structural applications have increased within the last two decades. In addition to the known benefits of composite materials as structural elements such as high specific modulus, high specific strength and low thermal conductivity, composites of natural fibers are eco-friendly materials and have minimum effect on environment and human health. However, the mechanical and structural performance of diverse natural fiber composites still need closer scrutiny. The objective of this study is to characterize the mechanical properties of a novel Acacia tortilis fiber reinforced polyester composite using experimental methods. In particular, the study focuses on determining the tensile and flexural properties of the composite at different fiber volume ratio, which was fabricated by hand lay-up methods. The results show that Acacia tortilis fiber reinforced polyester composites have generally competitive strength and Young’s modulus compared with common natural fiber reinforced composites such as sisal, kenaf, coir natural fiber reinforced composite materials. In addition, NaOH treated samples exhibited higher strength and Young’s modulus compared with their untreated counterparts, with few exceptions.

On the composite design of wood branches leading to improved bending strength

Wooden branches are designed to carry large bending moments, and so are longer composite structures, e.g. rotor blades for wind turbines. Being a natural fibrous composite material, wood is made from relatively simple biopolymer building blocks. In this preliminary work, we describe the composition and structure of softwood branches, including 3D images from X-ray computed tomography. The main difference in branch structure compared with other wood tissues is the reaction wood formed on the compressive side in e.g. spruce and pine. A simple beam is used to show that maximum bending moment is multiplied several times solely from the reaction wood. This is noteworthy, since chemical composition of the reaction wood does not differ significantly from the rest of the wood. The tissue gradients in the branch resulting from variation in density, microfibrillar angle and cell geometry contribute to the strength improvements. In composite structures, sandwich design is used to improve the load carrying capacity. From a general perspective, also local features as found in wood, such as smooth gradients and controlled cellular structure, could be further explored to improve bending strength in engineered composite materials.

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals a Gene Expression Pattern Associated with Fuzz Fiber Initiation Induced by High Temperature in Gossypium barbadense.

Gossypium barbadense is an important source of natural textile fibers, as is Gossypium hirsutum. Cotton fiber development is often affected by various environmental factors, such as abnormal temperature. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of temperature regulating the fuzz fiber initiation. In this study, we reveal that high temperatures (HT) accelerate fiber development, improve fiber quality, and induced fuzz initiation of a thermo-sensitive G. barbadense variety L7009. It was proved that fuzz initiation was inhibited by low temperature (LT), and 4 dpa was the stage most susceptible to temperature stress during the fuzz initiation period. A total of 43,826 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified through comparative transcriptome analysis. Of these, 9667 were involved in fiber development and temperature response with 901 transcription factor genes and 189 genes related to plant hormone signal transduction. Further analysis of gene expression patterns revealed that 240 genes were potentially involved in fuzz initiation induced by high temperature. Functional annotation revealed that the candidate genes related to fuzz initiation were significantly involved in the asparagine biosynthetic process, cell wall biosynthesis, and stress response. The expression trends of sixteen genes randomly selected from the RNA-seq data were almost consistent with the results of qRT-PCR. Our study revealed several potential candidate genes and pathways related to fuzz initiation induced by high temperature. This provides a new view of temperature-induced tissue and organ development in Gossypium barbadense.

Compressive Failure of Rattan Reinforced Soil Mixture

Natural fibrous materials such as coir, jute and kenaf have been used as reinforcement to increase the compressive strength of soft soil. This study introduces a new natural fibrous material namely rattan as the reinforcement for soft soil. The main objective is to determine the compressive failure of soft soil reinforced with rattan. Unconfined Compression Test was conducted according to BS1377-7:1990 standard testing procedures. The first series of testing was conducted on inclusion of different content of rattan strip (0 %, 0.5 %, 1.0 %, 1.5 % and 2.0 %) in soft soil. The second testing series is conducted on inclusion of different length of rattan strip (2 cm, 3 cm, 4 cm, 5 cm and 6 cm) in soft soil. The samples are all prepared at optimum moisture content (27 %) and maximum dry density (1.435 Mg/cm3). Mix performances were obtained where inclusion of rattan can be either beneficial or detrimental depending on the content and the length of the rattan. Rattan fiber of 0.5 % and length of 4 cm seems to be the optimum value in achieving higher compressive strength. Generally, the reinforced soil using rattan strip shows more plastic and ductile behavior.