Sisal fibre and its composites: a review of recent developments

Sisal fibre is a promising reinforcement for use in composites on account of its low cost, low density, high specific strength and modulus, no health risk, easy availability in some countries and renewability. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in finding new applications for sisal-fibre-reinforced composites that are traditionally used for making ropes, mats, carpets, fancy articles and others. This review presents a summary of recent developments of sisal fibre and its composites. The properties of sisal fibre itself, interface between sisal fibre and matrix, properties of sisal-fibre-reinforced composites and their hybrid composites have been reviewed. Suggestions for future work are also given. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.