Materials Today: Proceedings 22 (2020) 1223–1227

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Mechanical properties of natural fiber/particulate reinforced epoxy

composites – A review of the literature
R. Jeyapragash a,⇑, V. Srinivasan a, S. Sathiyamurthy b
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bharath University, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India
b
Department of Automobile Engineering, Easwari College of Engineering, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Natural fibers are one of the abundant resources that exist in nature. They are easily decomposable, bio
Received 16 June 2019 degradable, renewable and cost efficient. It can be extorted from various plant & animal resources. They
Received in revised form 16 December 2019 are used as reinforcement material in polymers for the growth of natural-fiber composites. The mechan-
Accepted 18 December 2019
ical properties of epoxy resin, reinforced with various natural fiber materials/agricultural by product par-
Available online 11 January 2020
ticles are compared in the present study. This review intends to provide basic and background
information of the natural fibers and their composites to trigger new research activities and facilitate
Keywords:
development of new variety polymer composites.
Natural fiber
Agricultural residue
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Particulates Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
Epoxy ence on Materials Engineering and Characterization 2019.
Mechanical properties

1. Introduction
Traditionally, the fiber based materials are being used by the
small scale enterprises for fabricating low cost products such as
carpets, mats, ropes, bags etc [2]. The most significant material that
cater to the industrial demand is the Natural fibers in polymer
matrices, which provide the researchers’ a mission to cope up with
the global dispute. In this world, when the availability of natural
fibers are considered, there are many varieties of natural fibers
but few have been exploited and recognized as potential reinforce-
ment materials for polymer composite applications. Natural fiber
depends mainly on plant’s nature and its locality, age, extraction
procedure and the processing methods used. The properties of nat-
ural fibers and their composites are discussed extensively by past
literatures which paved a fresh opening for current researchers
to develop new fibers which are plant based, as best source for pro-
ducing polymer composites.
The extensive research on natural-fiber-reinforced-polymer-co
mposites was started in mid of 1970s. Paramasivam et al. exam-
ined the tensile behavior of sisal fiber reinforced epoxy composites
and witnessed that they exhibited about half the strength as glass
fiber reinforced epoxy composites. The research in coir-polymer
composites was initiated by [1,2]. As a part of research, they
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jaip007@yahoo.com (R. Jeyapragash).
examined the coconut palm tree parts for finding the best proper-
ties like density, size, and elongation at break, tensile strength,
elastic modulus and percentage of elongation. They proposed the
hand picking process to extract fibers from rachis and rachilla,
spathe, leaf sheath and bark of the coconut tree. In continuation,
coir-epoxy composites were successfully developed by [8], who
also compared them with glass-epoxy composites. Most of the
research was carried out on sisal-polymer composites in mid 90s
and were successfully proved in composite applications. Based on
the results, [5] made a review on sisal-polymer composites and
dwelled on the structure and properties of sisal fiber, extraction
& processing methods, physical, chemical and mechanical proper-
ties of the sisal composites.
The natural fibers such as coconut coir, sisal, banana, hemp,
pine apple leaf fiber and jute have already been used in composite
applications. The fibers extracted from plant’s stem possess better
mechanical properties and yield more value due to the fact that
they are enriched with more cellulose content. In recent years,
researchers are investing into finding new variety of stem fibers
and development of their composites. The use of natural particu-
lates as reinforcements, in addition to lingo cellulostic fibers, is also
initiated by some of the researchers. By combining both, there are
wide scope and research opportunities for the development of new
variety of natural fibers and particulates in making of polymer
composites. The different categories of natural fibers and their role
as reinforcement for the enhanced mechanical properties are dis-

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.12.146
2214-7853/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Materials Engineering and Characterization 2019.
1224 R. Jeyapragash et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 22 (2020) 1223–1227

cussed in this paper. The effect of particulates as reinforcements the density of flax, bamboo and sisal fibers is 1.5 kg/cm3, the
for the improvement of mechanical properties is also outlined tensile strength behaviour of ramie and flax fibers is comparatively
here. higher and they are provided as reinforcement in polymer compos-
ites for better strength [4]. The most common bast natural fiber
contains a wood core bounded by a stem. Inside the stem there
1.1. Fiber types
is a huge quantity of fiber bundles – each consists of individual
fiber cells or filaments. These filaments have hemicelluloses and
The commonly used natural fiber and particulates are listed in
cellulose and are fused together by a matrix either pectin or lignin.
Table 1. The fibers are classified as bast, leaf, fruit, stem and stalk,
The pectin encircles the bundle thereby holding them on to the
as they are extracted from different parts of the plant. Coir fibres
stem. Later fiber bundles are infused with a resin at the time of
are found between the hard, internal crust and the outer cover of
processing the composite – the weakest being lignin among the
a coconut and collected from the fruit of the cocus nucifera plant.
individual cells. On composite applications, hemp and flax are
Bast fibers are extracted and collected from the outer cell layers of
two fibers that substitutes glass in many components, especially
the stem of the plants. Some examples are flax, jute, ramie, rattan,
seen in German automotive sector.
and vine fibers. Fibres collected from the leaf cells are known as
The fibers thus extracted are consolidated into single or mono
leaf fibres such as pine apple, banana, etc.
filament test to evaluate the tensile behavioral properties of the
The commonly used natural fiber and particulates are listed in
fiber. The filaments of each fiber are tested using the Instron
Table 1. The fibers are classified as bast, leaf, fruit & stem as they
Universal Testing machine by setting 5 mm/min. loading rate.
are extracted from different parts of the plant. Coir fibers are found
The load value was increased until the fiber fractures and 20 fibers
between the internal crust and the outer cover of a coconut and
are tested to evaluate the average tensile strength and average ten-
collected from the fruit of the cocus nucifera plant. Bast fibers
sile elongation. The fibers extracted from King’s crown plant stem
are extracted and collected from the outer cell layers of the Plants
are also tested in order to use in composite applications. The Calo-
stem. Some examples are flax, jute, ramie, rattan, and vine fibers.
tropis gigantean fiber exhibited tensile strength of 823 MPa and
Fibers collected from the leaf cells are known as leaf fibers such
5.03% of elongation during single filament testing.
as pine apple, banana, etc. The mechanical and behavioral proper-
The chemical content of several natural fibers is listed in Table 3.
ties of several natural cellulose fibers are given in Table 2. While
Based on the high cellulose content, the high tensile properties of
fibers are also obtained. Flax, hemp, ramie and nettle fibers exhib-
Table 1 ited better values of tensile properties as compared to other natu-
Fiber types and their scientific name. ral fibers. Cellulose morphology is a well-organized architecture of
Type of fiber Common Name Family Name
fibrillar elements. Lignin material in fiber fills the spaces in the
cell-wall between cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectin components,
BastFibers Hempfiber Cannabis-sativa
especially in tracheids, sclereids and xylem. Lignin is allied to
Jutefiber Corchorus-capsularis
Flaxfiber Linum-usitatissimum hemi-cellulose and thereby it establishes crosslink between differ-
Kenaffiber Hibiscus-cannabinus ent plant polysaccharides giving mechanical strength to the cell
Rosellefiber Hibiscus-sabdariffa wall and by extension, to the entire plant as a whole. Lignin also
Ramiefiber Boehmeria-nivea
plays a crucial part in conducting water in plant stems. Hemi cel-
Rattanfiber Hordeum-vulgare
Leaf Fibers Abaka Musa textilis
lulose is a heterogeneous group of compounds that forms part of
Henequen Agave -fourcroydes the matrix in plant-cell walls in which cellulose fibers are
Pine-apple Ananas-comosus implanted. Pectin material is present in primary cell walls as well
Bananafiber Musa mannii as in the middle lamella between plant cells which helps to bind
Seed Fibers Kapok Ceibapentandra
cells together [3].
Cotton Gossypiumarboreum
Stalk Fibers Rice Oryzasativa Calotropis Gigantea (CG) fiber belongs to Apocynaceae family of
Bamboo Bambuseae plants and is native to India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia
Fruit Fibers Coir Cocosnucifera and various parts of the world. This plant grows to a height of 3–
Tamarind Tamarindusindica
5 m and produces waxy flowers in cluster. Moreover, it consists
Stem fiber Sisal Agave sisalana
Crown Calotropisgigantea
of oval shaped light green leaves and milky stem, which get
Particulates Ground nut shell Arachishypogaea enriched with more amounts of fibers. There is a wide scope for
Sea shell Cypraecassisrufa fibers extracted from the stem of King’s crown plant, which are
Jack fruit Artocarpusheterophyllus used for composite manufacturing. The cellulose content of 73.8%
and hemicelluloses of 20.8% are observed in the Calotropis

Table 2
Properties of several natural fibers -Mechanical behaviour (Athijayamani et al. (2009)).

Fiber type Density (g/cm3) Elongation at break (%) Tensile behaviour (MPa) Young’s modulus (GPa)
Cottonfiber 1.55 7.0–8.0 287–597 5.50–12.60
Jutefiber 1.30 1.5–1.8 393–773 26.50
Flaxfiber 1.50 2.7–3.2 345–1035 27.60
Hempfiber 1.48 1.6 690 70.00
Ramiefiber 1.50 3.6–3.8 400–938 61.40–128.00
Sisalfiber 1.50 2.0–2.5 511–635 9.40–22.00
Coirfiber 1.20 30.0 175 4.00–6.00
Silkfiber – 20–25 252–528 7.32–11.22
Bananafiber 1.30 7 500 1.40
Woolfiber – 25–35 122–175 2.34–3.42
Bagassefiber 1.25 – 290 17.00
Bamboofiber 1.50 3 575 27.00
 R. Jeyapragash et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 22 (2020) 1223–1227 1225

Table 3
Properties of several natural fibers – Chemical composition (Sundaram et al. (2015).

Fiber type Cellulose (wt%) Hemicellulose (wt%) Lignin (wt%) Pectin (wt%) Moisture content (wt%) Waxes Micro fibrillar angle (Degree)
Flaxfiber 71 18.60–20.60 2.2 2.3 8–12 1.7 5.0–10.0
Hempfiber 70–74 17.90–22.40 3.7–5.7 0.9 6.2–12 0.8 2.0–6.0
Jutefiber 61.1–71.5 13.60–20.40 12.0–13.0 0.2 12.5–13.7 0.5 8.0
Kenaffiber 45–57 21.50 8.0–13.0 3–5 – – –
Ramiefiber 68.6–76.2 13.10–16.70 0.6–0.7 1.9 7.5–17 0.3 7.5
Nettlefiber 86 – – – 11–17 – –
Sisalfiber 66–78 10–14 10.0–14.0 10 10–22 2 10.0–22.0
PALFfiber 70–82 5.0–12.7 11.8 – 14.0
Bananafiber 63–64 10.00 5.0 10–12 – –
Abacafiber 56–63 – 12.0–13.0 1.0 5–10 – –
Cottonfiber 85–90 5.70 1.0 7.85–8.5 0.6 –
Coirfiber 32–43 0.15–0.25 40.0–45.0 3–4 8 30.0–49.0
Rice husk particles 35.7 18.70 30.2 9.5 – – –
GN shell particles 31.3 24.30 14.3 6.6 – – –
Coir pith particles 27.1 44.20 19.5 2.1 – – –

Table 4
Natural fiber-epoxy composites – Mechanical behaviours.

Sl. No Composites Tensile strength (MPa) Flexural strength (MPa) Impact strength (kJ/m2)
1 Coir-epoxy 23.68 46.63 26.43
2 Sisal-epoxy 37.40 52.8 56.7
3 Jute-epoxy 43.00 55.8 65.00
4 Banana-epoxy 59.00 76.53 149.66
5 Baggase-epoxy 42.40 56.7 110.66
6 Flax-epoxy 59.85 75.40 191.71
7 Areca-epoxy 27.50 25.00 93.33
8 Ramie-epoxy 90.00 110.00 105.40
9 Lantana camara-epoxy 19.08 55.45 32.30
10 Pseudo stem Banana-epoxy 45.57 73.58 92.66
11 Groundnutshell-epoxy 18.09 28.00 24.17
12 Rice husk-epoxy 23.00 29.00 26.00
13 Coir pith-epoxy 9.00 23.00 18.67
14 Banana + sisal-epoxy 25.00 62.00 98.66
15 Luffa + Groundnut- epoxy 39.31 58.95 27.33

Gigantea fibers. The chemical analysis is carried out on the
extracted CG fibers as per Technical Association of the Pulp and
Paper Industry (TAPPI) Standard (see Table 4).
1.2. Epoxy resin
Among the different thermoset matrix, epoxy, polyesters and
vinyl esters are commonly used in automotive, infrastructure, air-
craft, marine, chemical, and electrical applications. Epoxy shows
superior mechanical properties when compared to polyester. Vinyl
ester possesses excellent adhesion to wide variety fibers, and other
substrates.
Epoxy is used very effectively as an adhesive and as a laminating
resin for most of the engineering applications. It offers excellent
moisture barrier qualities when used in polymer composites. It
binds extremely well to fibers for making fiber reinforced polymer
composites. The polymerization reaction to transform the liquid
resin to the solid is induced by adding small amounts of a reactive
curing agent just before incorporating fibers into the liquid mix.
One such curing agent is amine based hardener (HY 951) and used
for the preparation of composites with a mixing ratio of 9:1 recom-
mended by the supplier. The epoxy resin (LY 556) and the hardener
supplied by M/S Covai Seenu & Company, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu,
India were referred in the present investigation.
2. Mechanical properties of natural fiber-epoxy composites
The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural
strength and impact strength were taken into account for the
comparison of different types of natural fiber/particulate
reinforced epoxy composites. The ADTM D638, ASTM D790 and
ASTM D 256 standards were followed for the conduct of tensile
strength, flexural strength and impact strength respectively. The
three point bending test was carried out on Universal Testing
Machine and Impact Tester was used for Izod Impact test for com-
parison of properties. The epoxy composites reinforced with natu-
ral fibers such as coir, sisal, banana, jute, baggase, flax, ramie, and
luffa. The Lantana camera captured the values in the present sur-
vey. The better value of tensile strength behaviours of 90 MPa was
obtained in ramie-epoxy composites [10]. The tensile strength
behavior of 59.85 MPa was obtained in flax-epoxy composites
[4] with 59 MPa provided from banana fiber reinforced epoxy
composites. The least value of tensile strength behavior of
19.08 MPa was attained in Lantana camera-epoxy composites
[9]. It was observed that bast and leaf fibers reinforced composites
exhibited better values of tensile strength as compared to other
types of fiber reinforced epoxy composites due to the enrichment
of cellulose content and better bonding between natural fiber and
matrix.
The least value of flexural strength of 25 MPa was obtained in
areca-epoxy composites [11] and higher value of flexural strength
of 110 MPa was obtained in ramie-epoxy composites [10]. The flax
fiber reinforced epoxy composites exhibited better value of impact
strength behaviours whereas coir fiber reinforced epoxy compos-
ites exhibited lower value of impact strength behaviours [12,14].
The thermo-set composites are fabricated using new variety of
plant based fibers in recent years ae as follows: The development
of sisal and roselle reinforced polyester composites and
1226 R. Jeyapragash et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 22 (2020) 1223–1227
sisal-vinyl ester composites [15], pseudo stem banana-epoxy
composites, hybrid composites [23,17], jute-epoxy composites
[16] were carried out in recent years. An experimental study,
carried out to investigate the tensile properties of polymer com-
posites, reinforced Calotropis Gigantea fruit fiber into a polyester
resin as a new natural fiber by [25,26]. It reported acceptable ten-
sile strength value of 52.26 MPa. The suitability of Calotropis
Gigantea fiber in epoxy matrix by [27] and characterization of
Calotropis procera fibers by [28] initiated the interest on natural
fibers in polymer composite applications.
3. Mechanical properties of particulates-epoxy composites
Three agricultural by-products such as groundnut shell, coir
pith and rice husk were considered and their reinforcement in
epoxy matrix were reviewed through literatures [13]. The 30% of
particles and 70% of resin were taken into account for the prepara-
tion of composites. The rice husk-epoxy composites exhibited bet-
ter value in tensile, flexural and impact properties [21]. Rice husk is
a lignocelluloses natural material that exhibits many prospective
advantages. It is a by-product of rice harvesting and hence it has
been produced and dumped as waste by-products in enormous
quantities every year. The rice husk is now incorporated into epoxy
matrix for the fabrication of natural fiber composites. The addition
of rice husk can encourage the decomposition and biodegradation
behaviours of the composites, and also make the engineering prod-
ucts economical and eco-friendly.
Improved mechanical physical properties were observed in
hybrid fiber-polymer composites and fiber-reinforced particulate-
impregnated polymer composites. Moreover, the impregnation of
natural fiber and agricultural by-products as reinforcement mate-
rials in polymer composites offer advantages such as: utilization
of waste materials, non-toxic & decomposability, low reinforce-
ment cost and high specific strength behaviours [19,22]. The use
of rice husk and boiled egg shell particles in coir polymer compos-
ites were analysed by [29]. The hybrid reinforcement showed
improved values of tensile at 31.5 MPs, flexural at 33 MPa and
impact strength of 43.5 kJ/m2, which are better than the individual
reinforcements. The usage of natural particulates as reinforce-
ments along with natural fibers has been proposed by most of
the researchers in recent years.
4. Conclusion
The various natural fibers used in polymer composites were
listed along with their scientific name, and their mechanical and
chemical properties were reviewed alongside. The natural compos-
ites were classified as fiber composites, particulate composites,
hybrid fiber composites and fiber-particulate composites. The
mechanical behaviors such as tensile strength, flexural strength
and impact strength had been listed for all categories of natural
composites in the present survey. The scope for the development
of new variety of natural fiber impregnated polymer composites
instead of synthetic fiber composites, and depleting wood materials
was also deliberated. The new variety of stem fiber, Calotropis
gigantea was also identified and their uses in polymer composites
were also discussed.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
R. Jeyapragash: Writing - original draft, Conceptualization.
V. Srinivasan: Methodology, Investigation. S. Sathiyamurthy:
Writing - review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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