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S U S TA I N A B L E F I B R E
Mr. DEBJIT BISWAS INTERN AT TEXTILE VALUE CHAIN
APPLICATION OF COIR FIBRE REINFORCED GREEN COMPOSITE
ABSTRACT With the rise in pollution and degradation of the environment researches are more focusing on the use of natural fibers such as jute, coir, sisal, etc. This has resulted in creating an awareness of using natural fiber reinforced biodegradable composites to replace the traditional fiber reinforced plastic composites. The objective of the paper is to develop a led incorporated biodegradable composite to add a product range in the field of home accessories. Coir fiber is selected as the reinforce material as it is ecological, non-toxic and biodegradable. Other than that Coir fibers have properties that help to improve strength, stiffness and make the product lightweight. There are many natural cellulose fibers but coir is used for being coarse, thick and is the most resistant to other commercial fiber. It is extracted from the outer shell of the coconut. Coir fiber is rich in lignin, making it even suitable for the products where slow degradability is required. The paper also briefs about composites, natural fiber different properties of coir fiber, polymer matrices and totally renewable composites.
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ccording to Kelly[1] composites are not regarded as a simple combination of two materials. Instead it is a unique combination of its own distinctive properties such as resistance to heat and other desirable qualities. The definition by Van Suchetclan [2] says that composites are homogeneous material as any portion of it will carry the same property. It can also be considered as heterogeneous material with two or more solid phases in contact on a microscopic scale.The history says that the use of composite has increased in a varied field where the strength and stiffness properties are hugely required. Over the era, the use of composite has rapidly increased because of its quality of high structural performance at low cost and compliance with the environment. The material majorly used to make composites were glass fiber, carbon fiber and aramid fiber reinforced with epoxy and unsaturated polyester for high mechanical strength. However, the major issue that arises is the non-biodegrada| AUGUST 2020
bility of these materials. With the rise of environmental consciousness and demand of legislative authority for their recycling, it becomes ethically though to continue using these materials. The Composites consists of matrices which function to disperse the fibers, it’s orientation and spacing. It avoids catastrophic propagation of cracks by transferring the obtained stress by the load on the composite, to the fibers by adhesion or friction across the fiber-matrix interface.[3] They can be further classified on the basis of matrix such as Metal matrix composites , Ceramics matrix composites and Polymer matrix composites. The synthetic polymer composites are petroleum based products. With growing awareness to reduce the carbon footprint and to preserve the petrochemical resources, alternatives are being searched by the researchers to replace the petroleum based composites [4]. The synthetic polymers produce a huge plastic waste which is non-biodegradable. A lot of energy in the form of
