Classification of natural fibre:

A Natural fibres are made from plant, animal or mineral sources, and are classified
according to their origin as shown in Fig. 1.1. Plants that produce natural fibres are categorized
into primary and secondary depending on the utilization. Primary plants are grown for their fibres
(examples, Jute, hemp, kenaf, and sisal) while secondary plants are plants where the fibres are
extracted from the waste product (examples, Pineapple, Bagasse, oil palm and coir). There are six
major types of fibers namely; bast fibres (jute, flax, hemp, ramie, baggase, linen, bamboo, and
kenaf), leaves fibres (abaca, banana, sisal and pineapple), leaflets (palm, coconut, etc.) seed fibres
(coir, cottonand kapok), grass and reed fibres (wheat, corn and rice) and all other types (wood and
roots).

Fig. 1.1: Classification of Natural Fibres

 Jute Flax Hemp Bagasse

Bamboo Kenaf Ramie Banana

Abaca Sisal Pineapple Coconut shell

Plam Coir Cotton Kapok

Rise Wheat Straw Corn Wood

Root Henequen Gomuti Aramid

Fig.1.2: Pictures of Several Natural Fiber
Kenaf has a bast fiber which contains 75% cellulose and 15% lignin and offers the
advantages of being biodegradable and environmentally safe (Kamani, 1996).
Kamani, M., Harun, J., Tahir, P. M., Shakeri, A., SaifulAzry, S., and Davoodi,
M. (2010). Physicochemical characterization of pulp and nanofibers from kenaf
stem. Material Letters, pp.419-431.

Major factors involved in separation of kenaf into its two fractions include: size
and amount of each portion; type and number of separation machinery; processing
rate through separation machinery; moisture content of whole-stalk kenaf;
humidity of ambient air (Khalil et al., 2010).
Akil, H.M., Omar, M.F., Mazuki,A.A.M., Safiee,S., Ishak, Z.A.M., and Bakar, A.
(2011). Kenaf fiber reinforced composites: A review. Material and Design, pp
.4107-4121.
Khalil, A., and Zuraida, H. (2011). Improvement in mechanical properties of
reinforced thermoplastic elastomer composite with kenaf bast fibre. Composite:
Part B 42, pp.462-465.