The aim of this study is to investigate natural cellulosic fibers extracted from Tridax procumbens plants. The obtained fibers were alkali treated for their effective usage as reinforcement in composites. The physical, chemical, crystallinity, thermal, wettability and surface characteristics were analyzed for raw, and alkali treated Tridax procumbens fibers (TPFs). The test results conclude that there was an increase in cellulose content with a reduction in hemicellulose, lignin, and wax upon alkali treatment. This enhanced the thermal stability, tensile strength, crystallinity, and surface roughness characteristics. The contact angle was also lesser for treated TPFs which prove its better wettability with the liquid phase. The Weibull distribution analysis was adopted for the analysis of the fiber diameter and tensile properties. Thus the considerable improvement in the properties of alkali treated TPFs would be worth for developing high-performance polymer composites.

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Where a licence is displayed above, please note the terms and conditions of the licence govern your use of this document. When citing, please reference the published version. Take down policy While the University of Birmingham exercises care and attention in making items available there are rare occasions when an item has been uploaded in error or has been deemed to be commercially or otherwise sensitive.

The present world scenario demands for the utilization of natural fiber-reinforced polymeric composites as opposed to synthetic fiber-reinforced composites mainly due to their environmental friendly behavior, availability in abundance, cost-effectiveness, and lightweight and moderately high-strength properties. Along with the above said advantages, the ease of manufacturing of natural fibers has made the researchers around the globe to exploit several locally available natural fibers to understand their feasibility as reinforcement phases in different polymeric composites and their suitability in various commercial and engineering applications. This research investigation has been conducted to discover a better natural/synthetic fiber-reinforced polymer hybrid composite for commercial engineering applications. This research investigation intends to recognize the effect of laminate stacking sequence of Prosopis juliflora fibers (PJFs)/E-glass/carbon fabrics reinforced hybrid epoxy composites under five different composite designations. Manual hand layup method is used as the fabrication method, while studies on physical, mechanical, and morphological properties have been conducted in this research work. From the results obtained, it is obvious that the properties of PJFs/E-glass/carbon fabrics reinforced epoxy composites enhanced due to the hybridization with the addition of E-glass and carbon fabrics in PJFs and augments its suitability in the use of engineering structural applications.

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The continuous demands for reducing environmental impact and energy consumption are the major driving factors for the development of natural fiber (NF)-reinforced composites (NFRCs). The huge demand for sustainable materials in industries leads to the usage of NFs in product developments. These NFs are more attractive due to their lightweight, cost-effectiveness, ease of availability, and environmentally friendly aspects. Green composites are the best alternatives in place of petroleum-based composites which meet the current industrial requirements. In recent years, researchers are more focused on the development of NF composites as a potential candidate in real-life applications due to economic advantages. This review gives a brief overview of NFs introduction, types, economic aspects, and the recent developments in NFRCs with an analysis of mechanical, thermal, and dielectric properties. Moreover, the water absorption behavior, applications, and challenges in using NFs are also studied in this review. Additionally, this review will motivate the researchers for further developments and exist as foundation literature for upcoming researchers.

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