Bio-based & Natural Fibers
Bio-based fibers
Environmental concerns, such as news on the increasing amounts of microplastics in the oceans, have raised consumer awareness and opened up new opportunities for bio-based products. Natural fibres offer favourable ecological and economic options for composite structures. Relatively high specific strength combined with low price enable the use of natural fibre reinforced composites in various applications, such as automotive, aerospace and construction industry.
Innovative bio-based products should be able to compete with fossil-based alternatives in terms of price, performance, productivity and environmental benefits. Instead of just mimicking properties of fossil-based products, bio-based fibre products should also aim for tailored functionalities, which utilise the specific benefits of the bio-based materials.
According to a reference module in the 2018 edition of Materials Science and Materials Engineering, natural fibers are
"a renewable resource and have several advantages associated with them, such as that they impart the composite high specific stiffness and strength, have a desirable fiber aspect ratio, are biodegradable, are readily available from natural sources"