Natural silk biocomposites

Natural fibers are basically derived from three natural resources, which are plants, animals, and minerals. Fibers from plants can be obtained from leaf (sisal fibers), bast (nettle fibers), seed (cotton), fruit (coconut) and wood (hard and softwood). Silk, wool and feathers are examples of animal fibers. Natural fibers from plants are widely used in fabrication of biocomposites for various applications [5]. 

It was found by Cho s research group [24] that the thermal expansion of neat poly(butylene succinate) dramatically reduced by reinforcing it with chopped silk fibers, which are animal-based natural fibers, without any surface treatment or modification, indicating much improved dimensional stability of silk/PBS biocomposites, as seen in Figure 4.19. The linear coefficients of thermal expansion (GTE) were 294 x 10 for neat PBS and 10 x 10 to 52 x 10 °G for silk/PBS biocomposites, depending on the fiber content incorporated. This result implied that such a reduction of the GTE may be further performed by enhancing the fiber-matrix adhesion through optional surface modification of raw silk fibers. 

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