A Review on the Flammability and Flame Retardant Properties of Natural Fibers and Polymer Matrix Based Composites

Natural fibers reinforced polymer composites are being used in several low strength applications. More research is going on to improve their mechanical and interface properties for structural applications. However, these composites have serious issues regarding flammability, which are not being focused broadly. A limited amount of literature has been published on the flame retardant techniques and flammability factor of natural fibers based polymer matrix composites. Therefore, it is needed to address the flammability properties of natural fibers based polymer composites to expand their application area. This paper summarizes some of the recent literature published on the subject of flammability and flame retardant methods applied to natural fibers reinforced polymer matrix composites. Different factors affecting the flammability, flame retardant solutions, mechanisms and characterization techniques have been discussed in detail.