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Natural Fibres

Properties

In recent years, a significant amount of interest has been shown in the potential of natural fibres to replace glass fibre in composites. Amongst the most suitable of these are the bast (bark) fibres, of which flax (Linum usitatissimum) is the most widely cultivated in the UK and Europe at present. Flax has excellent mechanical properties, especially when viewed on a specific basis and as such shows particular promise as composite reinforcement. Other fibres such as hemp, jute sisal and cotton, also show good promise. The table below provides some basic information on the mechanical properties of these fibres and a comparison with some synthetic fibres.

**Selected physical and mechanical properties of some synthetic and natural (plant) fibres**
Fibre type	Density (Mg m^-3)	Young’s modulus (GN m^-2)	Tensile strength (MN m^-2)	Failure strain (%)
Synthetic fibres
E-glass	2.56	76	2000	2.6
high strength carbon	1.75	230	3400	3.4
Kevlar™ (aramid)	1.45	130	3000	2.3
boron	2.6	400	4000	1
Natural fibres
flax	1.4-1.5	50-70	500-900	1.3-3.3
hemp	1.48	30-60	310-750	2-4
jute	1.4	20-55	200-450	2-3
sisal	1.45	9-22	80-840	3-14
cotton	1.5	6-10	300-600	6-8

Sources:

Hull, D. and Clyne, T.W. (1996). An Introduction to Composite Materials. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Ivens, J., Bos, H. and Verpoest, I. (1997). The Applicability of Natural Fibres as Reinforcement for Polymer Composites. In: Renewable Biproducts: Industrial Outlets and Research for the 21st Century. June 24-25, 1997, EC-symposium at the International Agricultural Center (IAC), Wageningen, The Netherlands.

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