ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF ECO- FRIENDLY NATURAL FIBER REINFORCED POLYMERIC COMPOSITE MATERIALS

Abstract

The mounting global environmental and social concern, high rate of decline of petroleum resources, and novel environmental policy have enforced the search for green composite materials, attuned with the environment. The strategy discussed in this report aims to add value to the crops by processing the fibers into so called natural fiber composites. Composites are hybrid materials made of a polymer resin reinforced by fibers, combining the high mechanical and physical performance of the fibers and the appearance, bonding together and enriching the physical properties of polymers. The two main classes of biodegradable polymers are synthetic and natural, which are produced from feedstock derived either from petroleum resources (non renewable resources) or from biological resources (renewable resources).Starch is a natural polymer which possesses many unique properties. Therefore, by combining the individual advantages of starch and synthetic polymers, starch-based biodegradable polymers are potential due to the wide variety of available manufacturing processes, each resulting in their own characteristic products, the design possibilities are numerous. Consequently, a composite product and its manufacturing process can be chosen to best fit the environment in which the products will be made and used. Besides the technical feasibility, manufacturing of composites becomes also financially feasible when using domestically grown natural fibers in combination with simple manufacturing processes..