Natural fibers are textile fibers that are original in nature or directly obtained from artificially cultivated plants and animals, which are important sources of material for the textile industry. Alfa Chemistry offers a wide range of natural fiber materials, including plant fibers, animal fibers, chitin and chitosan fibers.
Classification
- Plant Fiber
Plant fibers refer to fibers extracted from natural plants, such as cotton, jute, flax, etc. The chemical composition of plant fiber mainly includes cellulose, lignin, hemicellulose and so on. - Animal Fiber
Animal fibers are natural fibers mainly composed of certain proteins, such as wool, silk, etc. - Chitin and Chitosan Fibers
Chitin has both the biological functions of collagen in higher animal tissues and fibrin in higher plant tissues, and has become a new material with a wide range of uses. Chitosan is the most important derivative of chitin.
Fiber Modification
As green materials, natural fibers can provide environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions for the next generation of composite products. To meet the growing demand for using environmentally friendly materials in different applications, several modification and processing techniques are being researched and developed.
Physical Modification
Physical modification methods can be used to alter the surface properties of natural fibers. Physical treatment methods include corona, plasma, ultraviolet (UV), fiber beating and heat treatment.
Chemical Modification
The chemical modification methods can achieve by various chemical reactions. Chemical treatments include bases, silanes, acetylation, benzoylation, peroxides, maleated coupling agents, sodium chlorite, acrylation and acrylonitrile grafts, isocyanates, stearic acid, permanganate, triazine, oleoyl chloride and fungal treatments.
Features And Applications
- Textile Industry
It is well known that several natural fibers play an indispensable role in the textile industry, especially cotton, wool, silk, etc. They dominate the scale of production and use of textiles. - Composite Material
Natural fibers are replacing synthetic fibers in composites due to their low cost, low density, high availability, and low tool wear. For renewability and sustainability, natural fibers are widely used as reinforcements. For example, Ramesh et al. developed a sisal-jute-glass fiber reinforced polyester composite with improved impact properties. [1]
Summary of the advantages and disadvantages of green composites compared to traditional petrochemical composites [2]
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|
| Less expensive | Lower mechanical properties (especially impact strength) |
| Lower weight | Higher moisture absorption |
| Higher flexibility | Lower durability |
| Renewable | Poor fire resistance |
| Biodegradable | Variation in quality |
| Good thermal and sound insulation | Restricted maximum processing temperature |
| Eco-friendly | Poor microbial resistance |
| Nontoxic | Low thermal resistance |
| Lower energy consumption | Demand and supply cycles |
| No residues when incinerated | |
| No skin irritations | |
- Biomedical Materials
Natural fibers often show promise as biomaterials in medical applications. For example, chitin can be used as bone filler material for tissue regeneration, drug carrier and excipient, and antineoplastic agent.
References
- Ramesh M, et al. Advanced Materials Research, 2014, 984–985, 266–272.
- Aliakbar Gholampour, et al. Journal of Materials Science, 2020, 55, 829–892.
Our products and services are for research use only.
