A New Generation of Composite Materials from Agro-based Fiber

Agro-based fibers are classified according to what part of the plant they come from. Five different fiber classifications will be used in this report: (1) bast or stem fibers, which are the fibrous bundles in the inner bark of the plant stem running the length of the stem; (2) leaf fibers, which run the length of leaves; (3) seed-hair fibers; (4) core, pith or stick fibers, which form the low density, spongy inner part of the stem of certain plants; and (5) all other plant fibers not included above. Examples of bast or stem fibers include jute, flax, hemp, kenaf, ramie, roselle, and urena. Leaf fibers include banana, sisal, henequen, abaca, pineapple, cantala, caroa, mauritius, and phormium. Seed-hair fibers include coir, cotton, kapok, and milk weed floss. Core fibers represent the center or pith fibers of such plants as kenaf and jute and can represent over 85 percent of the dry weight of these plants. The remaining fibers include roots, leaf segments, flower heads, seed hulls and short stem fiber. While individual single fibers in all of these classes are quite short (except for flax, hemp, ramie, cotton, and kapok), fiber bundles can be quite long. For example, hemp, jute, and kenaf can have fiber bundles as long as 400 cm and abaca, mauritius, and phormium are about half this length. Considering all plant fiber types, there is a vast array of potential long and short fibers for composite production.