Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Chemical Composition of Natural Fibers and its Influence on their Mechanical Properties

  • Published:
Mechanics of Composite Materials Aims and scope

The conventional composites are replacing such well-established structural materials as steel, iron, and aluminum very fast. The conventional composites are not easily disposable. To overcome the problems of disposability and pollution, the focus is on the fabrication of natural composite materials. The natural composite materials are made from natural fibers and natural resins. Various natural fibers, such as jute, hemp, coir, cotton, and others are used in industry to fabricate natural composite materials. The fibers are load-carrying members in the composites. The main constituents of the fibers are cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, pectin, and wax. The composition of fibers depends on the geographic location where the plants are grown up. The peculiarity is the fact that all the fibers have the same constituents, but with different composition, which makes the fibers to behave differently. In this work, the Pearson rank correlation coefficients are found between the composition and properties of the fibers, and the corresponding equations of regression lines are obtained.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. G. Marques, J. Rencoret, A. Gutiérrez, and J. C. del Río, “Evaluation of the chemical composition of different nonwoody plant fibers used for pulp and paper manufacturing,” The Open Agriculture J., 4, 93-101, 10, 1874-3315 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  2. P. P. Gohil, A. A. Shaikh, “Experimental investigation and micromechanics assessment for longitudinal elastic modulus in unidirectional cotton – polyester composites,” Int. J. Eng. and Technol., 2, No. 2, 111-118 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  3. S. W. Beckwith,“Natural fbers: Nature poviding tchnology for composites,” SAMPE J., 44, No. 3, May/June (2008).

  4. R. Malkapuram, V. Kumar, and Y. Ngi, “Recent development in natural fiber reinforced polypropylene composites,” J. of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, 28, No. 10 (2009).

  5. G. Siqueira, Ju. Bras, and A. Dufresne. “Cellulosic bionanocomposites: A Review of Preparation, Properties, and Applications,” Polymers, 2, 728-765 (2010); oi:10.3390/polym2040728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. M. J. John and R. D. Anandjiwala, “Recent development s in chemical modification and characterization of natural fiber-reinforced composites,” Soc. of Plastic Engineers, 187-198 (2007).

  7. M. Waikambo, “Review of the history, properties and application of plant fibres,” African J. of Sci. and Technol. (AJST), Sci. and Eng. Ser., 7, No. 2, 120-133 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  8. R. M. Rowell, J. S. Han, and J. S. Rowell, “Characterization and factors effecting fiber properties,” Natural Polymers and Agrofibers Composites Sãn Carlos, Brazil, 2000. -->

    Google Scholar 

  9. L. Y. Mwaikambo and M. P. Ansell, “Mechanical properties of alkali treated plant fibers and their potential as reinforcement materials. I. Hemp fibers,” J Mater. Sci., 41, 2483-2496 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. L. Peponi, Je. Biagiotti, L. Torre, J. M. Kenny, and I. Mondragon, “Statistical analysis of mechanical properties of natural fibers and their composite materials. Natural fibers,” Soc. of Plastic Eng., 313-320 (2008).

  11. S. Kamel, “Nanotechnology and its applications in lignocellulosic composites, a mini review,” eXPRESS Polymer Letters, 1, No. 9, 546-575 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. S. Taj, M. A. Munawar, and S. U. Khan, “Natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites,” Proc. Pakistan Acad. Sci., 44, (2 s):a1ir2a9 t-1a4j 4e.t2 a0l0.7

  13. R. M. Rowell, “Composite materials from agricultural resources. Research in industrial application of non food crops, I: Plant fibers,” Proc. of a Seminar, 27-41, May, Copenhagen, Denmark .Lyngby, Denmark Academy of Technical Science (1995).

  14. G. Siqueira, J. Bas, and A Dufresne, “Luffa cylindricaas a lignocellulosic source of fiber, microfibrillated cellulose, and cellulose nanocrystals,” BioResources, 5, No. 2, 727-740. 727

  15. N. Reddy and Y. Yang, “Extraction and characterization of natural cellulose fibers from common milkweed stems,” Polym. Eng. and Sci., 49, No. 11, 2212-2217 (2009); doi: 10.1002/ pen 21469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. I. M. De Rosa1, J. M. Kenny, D. Puglia, C. Santulli, and F. Sarasini, “Tensile behavior of New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) fibers,”J. of Reinforced Plast. and Compos., 29, No. 23, 3450-3454.

  17. Ge Wang, S. Q. Shi, J. Wang, S. Cao, and H. Cheng, “Micro tension test method for measuring tensile properties of individual cellulosic fibers,” Wood and Fiber Sci., 43, No. 3, 1-11, Soc. of Wood Sci. and Technol., ISSN 2073-4360 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  18. I. O. Oladela, J. A. Omolayiube, and J. O. T. Adewara, “Investigating the effect of chemivcal treatment – the constituents and tensile tensile properties of sisal fiber,” J. of Mineral and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 9, No. 6, 569-582, jmmce.org

  19. P. A. Seekumar, R. Saiah, J. M. Saiter, N. Lebianc, K. Joseph, G. Uikrishanan, and S. Thamos, “Dynamic mechanical properties of sisal fiber reinforced polyester composites fabricated by resin transfer molding,” Soc. of Plastic Engineers, 768-774 (2008).

  20. C. Karine, J. J. Paul, G. Moussa, B. Christeple, B. Laurent, and B. Joel, “Morphology and mechanical behavior of a natural composite. The flax fiber,” Proc. of 16 th Int. Conf. on Composite Materials, Ckyoto, Japan, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  21. L. L. da Costa, R. L. Loila, and S. N. Monterio, “Diameter dependency of the tensile strength by weibull analysis. Part I., “Revista Materia, 15, No. 5, 110-116, 2010 ISSN 517-7076

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. C. Baley, “Analysis of the flax fibers tensile behavior and analysis of the tensile stiffness,” Composites: Pt. A, 33, 939-948 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. A. G. Kulkarni, K. G. Satyanarayana, and P. K. Rohatgi, “Mechanical properties of banana fibers,” J. of Material Sci., 18, 2290-2296 (1983).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. S. Mukhopadyay, R. Fanguerio, Y. Aprac, and U. Senturk, “Banana fibers – variability and fracture behavior,” J. of Eng. Fibrics, 3, Iss. 2 (2008).

  25. J. C. M. Osorio, R. R. Baracaldo, and J. J O. Florez, “The influence of alkali treatment on banana fibre’s mechanical properties,” Ingeiria Investigacion, 32, No.1, April, 83-87 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  26. A. Bismarck, S Mishra, and T. Lampke, “Plant fibers as reinforcement for green composites,” in Natural Fibers, Biopolymers, and Biocomposites, ISBN 0-8493-1741-x.

  27. G. C. Mohan Kumar, “A study of short areca fiber reinforced PF composites,” Proc. of the World Congress on Engineering 2008, Vol II, London, U.K.

    Google Scholar 

  28. C. V. Aga, O. U. Njoku, F. C. Chilaka, S. A. Okorie, and D Agbiogwn, “Physico-chemical characterization of lignocellulosic fibre from Ampelocissus cavicaulis,” Int. J. of Basic and Appl. Sci., IJBAS-IJENS, Nov (2003).

  29. T. Hänninen, “Studies on the ultrastructure of natural fibres and its effects on the fibre utilization, DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 116/2011, Aalto University publ. series.

  30. J.-M. Park, Son Tran Quang, B.-S. Hwang, and K. L. De Vries, “Interfacial evaluation of modified jute and hemp fibers/ polypropylene(PP)-maleic anhydride polypropylene copolymers (PP-MAPP) composites using micromechanical technique and nondestructive acoustic emission,” Compos. Sci. Technol., 66, 2686-2699 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. A. Bergeret and J. Ch. Benezet. “Natural fibre-reinforced biofoams,” Int. J. of Polym. Sci., Volume 2011, Article ID 569871, 14 Hindawi Publ. Corporation

  32. J. Giridhar, Kishore, et al, “Moisture absorption characteristics of natural fiber composites,” J. of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, 5, April (1986).

  33. M. Mortanzavi and M. K. Moghadam, “Analysis and structure of a natural cellulosic fiber,” (leafiran),” Fibers and Polymers, 11, No. 6, 877-882 (2010).

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr.M.Mohan Rao, Director of CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology), Hyderabad, India, for allowing us to take SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) Images. We also thank Saad M. Ahsan for the help in taking SEM images and Thierry Fahmy from Addinsoft (2014) XLSTAT 2014 for permitting us to use the trail version of the software for regression analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. JNTU Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India

    A. Komuraiah & B. Durga Prasad

  2. WITS Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India

    N. Shyam Kumar

Authors
  1. A. Komuraiah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. N. Shyam Kumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. B. Durga Prasad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Komuraiah.

Additional information

Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 509-528 , May-June, 2014.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Komuraiah, A., Kumar, N.S. & Prasad, B.D. Chemical Composition of Natural Fibers and its Influence on their Mechanical Properties. Mech Compos Mater 50, 359–376 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11029-014-9422-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11029-014-9422-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation