Biofiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites

Susheel Kalia, Balbir Singh Kaith, Inderjeet Kaur, and James Njuguna 

Fibers are hairhke materials consisting of continuous filaments or they are present as discrete elongated pieces. The earliest evidence of human use of fiber is the discovery of wool and dyed flax fiber, found in prehistoric caves back in 36 000 BP, in what is today the RepubUc of Georgia. Fibers can be spun into ropes, thread, or can be matted into sheets to make paper. On the basis of their origin, they are classified as natural, ceUulosic, and synthetic fibers. Despite the vast apphcations of synthetic fibers, their nonbiodegradable nature makes them less attractive. These are petroleum-based products, so continuous depletion of petroleum reserves results in the demand for sustainable and renewable raw materials to replace these nonbiodegradable products [1-4]. 

Edited by Sabu Thomas, Kunivilla Joseph, S. K. Malhotra, Koichi Goda and M. S. Sreekala. 

Animal hair fibers consists of a protein known as keratin, which has a composition similar to human hair. Animal tendons consist of collagen, a fibrous protein with a complex hierarchical structure. Keratin proteins are actually crystalline copwlymers of nylon, where amino acids are the repeating units. They get cross-linked through disulfide bonds present in the cystine amino acid [13]. 

Among three mineral fibers, only asbestos is a trae natural fiber. Glass and aluminum silicate fibers require human intervention in their processing, and might be better considered as man-made fibers. 

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I 7 Biofiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites Step III Termination... 

BCand BC-Coated, Biofiber-Reinforced, Thermoplastic Composites I 275... 

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