Investigating the Inherent Characteristic/Performance Deterioration Interactions of Natural Fibers in Bio-Composites for Better Utilization of Resources

Clear and consistent relationships between the properties of natural fibers and their corresponding performance in the bio-composites are not fully understood yet. This in order makes it practically difficult to predict the performance deterioration of such fibers in composites and makes proper selections of natural constituents to maximize the composites desirable performance very costly with discarding plenty of available natural resources. In this work, systematic investigations about the relationships between the inherent characteristics of natural fibers and their performance in composites are developed and carried out for the first time to enhance the understanding of such interactions. Here, investigating the relationships between the tensile strengths of natural fibers with their respective performance deteriorations in polypropylene composites are carried out. In addition, systematic comparative studies of the interactions of the fibers and polymers mechanical properties-like fibers' Young's moduli, tensile strengths and polymer flexural strengths- on their corresponding performance deteriorations in bio-composites are performed considering various performance characteristics. Several promising conclusions have been drawn here such as the possibility of using fibers with low moduli of elasticities to produce composites with much better tensile strengths comparable to costly fibers with high inherent tensile properties. Moreover, findings of this study stress upon compromising as well as the better utilization of the available natural resources and wastes to achieve desired composite characteristics considering economic viability of the available natural resources for proper resource-efficiency optimization.