The growing ecological and environmental consciousness has driven efforts for development of new innovative materials for various end-use applications. Polymers synthesized from natural resources, have gained considerable research interest in the recent years. This review paper is intended to provide a brief outline of work that covers in the area of biocomposites, major class of biodegradable polymers, natural fibres, as well as their manufacturing techniques and properties has been highlighted. Various surface modification methods were incorporated to improve the fibre–matrix adhesion resulting in the enhancement of mechanical properties of the biocomposites. Moreover, an economical impact and future direction of these materials has been critically reviewed. This review concludes that the biocomposites form one of the emerging areas in polymer science that gain attention for use in various applications ranging from automobile to the building industries.

A review of the recent developments in biocomposites based on natural fibres and their application perspectives

Over the past few years, nanocellulose (NC), cellulose in the form of nanostructures, has been proved to be one of the most prominent green materials of modern times. NC materials have gained growing interests owing to their attractive and excellent characteristics such as abundance, high aspect ratio, better mechanical properties, renewability, and biocompatibility. The abundant hydroxyl functional groups allow a wide range of functionalizations via chemical reactions, leading to developing various materials with tunable features. In this review, recent advances in the preparation, modification, and emerging application of nanocellulose, especially cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), are described and discussed based on the analysis of the latest investigations (particularly for the reports of the past 3 years). We start with a concise background of cellulose, its structural organization as well as the nomenclature of cellulose nanomaterials for beginners in this field. Then, different experimental procedures for the production of nanocelluloses, their properties, and functionalization approaches were elaborated. Furthermore, a number of recent and emerging uses of nanocellulose in nanocomposites, Pickering emulsifiers, wood adhesives, wastewater treatment, as well as in new evolving biomedical applications are presented. Finally, the challenges and opportunities of NC-based emerging materials are discussed.

/pdf/nanocellulose-from-fundamentals-to-advanced-applications-ecdehj4ngu.pdf

Nanocellulose: From Fundamentals to Advanced Applications

Throughout the world there have been alarming concerns over the use of nonrenewable resources during manufacturing of goods and associated environmental legislations. Therefore, the use of natural materials and fabrication of composites therefrom, particularly, development of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites is gaining significant attention. Although natural fiber reinforced composites (NFRCs) show strong application prospects, various materials and processing related challenges needs to be addressed to achieve long-term stability and performance. In this review, we attempted to provide an overview of different types of natural fibers, their characteristics and properties enabling them to be used as reinforcing agents in different polymers. Then the unique requirement of fiber surface modification to achieve enhanced fiber-matrix bonding is discussed. The article also discusses conventional processing routes and critical issues associated with NFRCs processing. The use of different additive manufacturing (AM) technologies in processing polymer composites is also discussed. At the end, we have critically analyzed the challenges and opportunities associated with AM of NFRCs.

Additive manufacturing of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites: Processing and prospects

Nanocellulose, as a promising natural material, has recently received much attention because of its remarkable features including recyclability, biocompatibility, low risk of toxicity, and tunable ...

Production of Nanocellulose and Its Applications in Drug Delivery: A Critical Review

Surface and thermal characterization of natural fibres treated with enzymes

Effects of preparation methods on the morphology and properties of nanocellulose (NC) extracted from corn husk

Natural bamboo fibers have attracted growing demands in textile industry due to benefit from their excellent properties and renewable and abundant resource; however, there are still limitations for their application in textile industry because of their poor quality. For this reason, enzymes treatments on mechanochemically modified natural bamboo fibers were conducted to extract noncellulosic matters from finer natural bamboo fibers in this paper. Four enzymes, pectin lyase, xylanase, laccase, and cellulase, were used to remove pectin, hemicellulose, lignin and to loosen the compact structure of fibers, respectively. Furthermore, the concentrations of four enzymes were optimized in terms of fiber chemical composition, weight loss, fineness, and tenacity to obtain high quality fibers. An obvious reduction in amount of noncellulosic substances and also a remarkable improvement in fineness in the modified fibers can be found from the experimental results. The optimum parameters are determined as: 0.6 % pectin lyase, 1.2 % cellulase, 0.3 % xylanase, and 1.2 % laccase; and the natural bamboo fiber thus obtained is 77.51 % in cellulose content, 2.81 tex in fineness, and 2.62 cN/dtex in tenacity.

Enzymatic treatment of mechanochemical modified natural bamboo fibers

Akund fiber is a new type of natural cellulose fiber. Because of its excellent properties, akund fiber has become one of the new ecological materials which have huge development potential. Recently natural fibers have shown great promise in a variety of applications that were previously dominated by synthetic fibers due to their important aspects of biocompatibility, possible biodegradation, nontoxicity, and abundance. Moisture absorption and release behaviour of natural fiber plastic composites is one major concern in their outdoor applications. So the knowledge of the moisture content and the moisture absorption and release rate is very much essential for the application of akund fiber as an excellent reinforcement in polymers. An effort has been made to study the moisture absorption and release behaviour of akund fiber and the mechanical performance of it at relative air humidity from 0% to 100%. The gain and loss in moisture content in akund fiber due to water absorption and release were measured as a...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1155/2012/356548

Liqian Huang

Papers

Effects of preparation methods on the morphology and properties of nanocellulose (NC) extracted from corn husk

Enzymatic treatment of mechanochemical modified natural bamboo fibers

Studies of Moisture Absorption and Release Behaviour of Akund Fiber