AUTHOR=Thyavihalli Girijappa Yashas Gowda , Mavinkere Rangappa Sanjay , Parameswaranpillai Jyotishkumar , Siengchin Suchart TITLE=Natural Fibers as Sustainable and Renewable Resource for Development of Eco-Friendly Composites: A Comprehensive Review JOURNAL=Frontiers in Materials VOLUME=6 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/materials/articles/10.3389/fmats.2019.00226 DOI=10.3389/fmats.2019.00226 ISSN=2296-8016 ABSTRACT=

The increase in awareness of the damage caused by synthetic materials on the environment has led to the development of eco-friendly materials. The researchers have shown a lot of interest in developing such materials which can replace the synthetic materials. As a result, there is an increase in demand for commercial use of the natural fiber-based composites in recent years for various industrial sectors. Natural fibers are sustainable materials which are easily available in nature and have advantages like low-cost, lightweight, renewability, biodegradability, and high specific properties. The sustainability of the natural fiber-based composite materials has led to upsurge its applications in various manufacturing sectors. In this paper, we have reviewed the different sources of natural fibers, their properties, modification of natural fibers, the effect of treatments on natural fibers, etc. We also summarize the major applications of natural fibers and their effective use as reinforcement for polymer composite materials.