TY - JOUR
T1 - Natural fiber reinforced composites
T2 - Sustainable materials for emerging applications
AU - Khalid, Muhammad Yasir
AU - Al Rashid, Ans
AU - Arif, Zia Ullah
AU - Ahmed, Waqas
AU - Arshad, Hassan
AU - Zaidi, Asad Ali
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s)
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - In the contemporary world, natural fibers reinforced polymer composite (NFRPC) materials are of great interest owing to their eco-friendly nature, lightweight, life-cycle superiority, biodegradability, low cost, noble mechanical properties. NFRPCs are widely applied in various engineering applications and this research field is continuously developing. However, the researchers are facing numerous challenges regarding the developments and applications of NFPRCs due to the inherent characteristics of natural fibers (NFs). These challenges include quality of the fiber, thermal stability, water absorption capacity, and incompatibility with the polymer matrices. Ecological and economic concerns are animating new research in the field of NFRPCs. Furthermore, considerable research is carried out to improve the performance of NFRPCs in recent years. This review highlights some of the important breakthroughs associated with the NFRPCs in terms of sustainability, eco-friendliness, and economic perspective. It also includes hybridization of NFs with synthetic fibers which is a highly effective way of improving the mechanical properties of NFRPCs along with some chemical treatment procedures. This review also elucidates the significance of using numerical models for NFRPCs. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are drawn to assist the researchers with future research directions.
AB - In the contemporary world, natural fibers reinforced polymer composite (NFRPC) materials are of great interest owing to their eco-friendly nature, lightweight, life-cycle superiority, biodegradability, low cost, noble mechanical properties. NFRPCs are widely applied in various engineering applications and this research field is continuously developing. However, the researchers are facing numerous challenges regarding the developments and applications of NFPRCs due to the inherent characteristics of natural fibers (NFs). These challenges include quality of the fiber, thermal stability, water absorption capacity, and incompatibility with the polymer matrices. Ecological and economic concerns are animating new research in the field of NFRPCs. Furthermore, considerable research is carried out to improve the performance of NFRPCs in recent years. This review highlights some of the important breakthroughs associated with the NFRPCs in terms of sustainability, eco-friendliness, and economic perspective. It also includes hybridization of NFs with synthetic fibers which is a highly effective way of improving the mechanical properties of NFRPCs along with some chemical treatment procedures. This review also elucidates the significance of using numerical models for NFRPCs. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are drawn to assist the researchers with future research directions.
KW - Chemical treatments
KW - Composite materials
KW - Natural fibers
KW - Sustainability
KW - Sustainable materials
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111751235&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.rineng.2021.100263
DO - 10.1016/j.rineng.2021.100263
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85111751235
SN - 2590-1230
VL - 11
JO - Results in Engineering
JF - Results in Engineering
M1 - 100263
ER -