A review of natural fibres, their sustainability and automotive applications

Dunne, Regan; Desai, Dawood; Sadiku, Rotimi; Jayaramudu, J.

doi:10.1177/0731684416633898

Cited by 186 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Currently, many studies focus on natural fibres, because of their different industrial applications and their sustainability (Dunne et al, 2016;Guerriero et al, 2017). Fibre crops provide extraxylary fibres, the bast fibres, which mechanically support the phloem.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sucrose synthase gene expression analysis in the fibre nettle (Urtica dioica L.) cultivar “clone 13”

Backes

Behr

Xuan

et al. 2018

Industrial Crops and Products

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A B S T R A C TThe use and valorisation of fibre crops are sustainable solutions to reduce the world's dependence on petroleumderived products and fossil energy. Fibre crops have a relatively short growth cycle and provide high amounts of biomass used in different industrial sectors. Among fibre crops there is stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.), a perennial herbaceous plant growing in temperate regions. Nettle phloem fibres (a.k.a. bast fibres) have a high cellulose content (ca. 80%) and low amount of lignin (ca. 4%); additionally, they are silky and have a high tensile strength. The gelatinous cell walls of bast fibres are primarily composed of cellulose. The biosynthesis of cellulose is dependent on the provision of uridine diphosphate glucose, which, besides being formed from glucose-1-phosphate through uridine diphosphate glucose pyrophosphorylase, can also be produced via the reaction catalysed by sucrose synthase (SUS). A regulation of SUS gene expression accompanying the developmental stages of the bast fibres is therefore likely to exist along the stem of nettle plants. The objectives of this study were: 1) to identify the SUS genes in nettle and 2) to analyse their differential expression in tissues of stem internodes sampled at different heights (i.e. top, middle and bottom). The gene expression analysis is accompanied by optical and confocal microscopy observations concerning cellulose and lignin distribution. The results here presented identify 6 SUS genes in nettle belonging to the three Angiosperm groups previously reported (groups I-III). Their gene expression analysis shows a differential regulation in the stem tissues sampled at different heights, which reflects the increase in cell wall thickness of bast fibres along the stem of nettle. In particular, 3 expression patterns of genes either more expressed in young/old stem regions or peaking at the middle internode are identified with the heat map hierarchical clustering. This is the first study on the expression of SUS genes in a nettle fibre variety and on the immunohistochemical analysis of U. dioica internodes sampled at different stem heights. This work will serve as a basis for future molecular studies on a neglected, yet potential multi-purpose plant.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sucrose synthase gene expression analysis in the fibre nettle (Urtica dioica L.) cultivar “clone 13”

Backes

Behr

Xuan

et al. 2018

Industrial Crops and Products

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“…Actually, these fibers are being used in the textile and automotive industries [6,17]. Furthermore, curauà fiber is odorless, enabling its use for car interior parts [6].The use of natural fibers as reinforcement in composites has been extensively reported in the literature [8][9][10][18][19][20][21][22]. Nonetheless, the use of lignocellulosic reinforcements limits the range of polymers to be used as a matrix, mainly because cellulose starts to degrade fast when exposed to temperatures beyond 200 • C [23].The mechanical properties of a fibers-reinforced composite are mainly affected by the nature of its phases and its percentages, its compatibility, as the ability to create strong interphases between the reinforcement and the matrix, the morphology of the reinforcements and its dispersion and its main orientation against the loads.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of natural fibers as reinforcement in composites has been extensively reported in the literature [8][9][10][18][19][20][21][22]. Nonetheless, the use of lignocellulosic reinforcements limits the range of polymers to be used as a matrix, mainly because cellulose starts to degrade fast when exposed to temperatures beyond 200 • C [23].…”

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confidence: 99%

Explorative Study on the Use of Curauá Reinforced Polypropylene Composites for the Automotive Industry

et al. 2019

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The automotive industry is under a growing volume of regulations regarding environmental impact and component recycling. Nowadays, glass fiber-based composites are commodities in the automotive industry, but show limitations when recycled. Thus, attention is being devoted to alternative reinforcements like natural fibers. Curauá (Curacao, Ananas erectifolius) is reported in the literature as a promising source of natural fiber prone to be used as composite reinforcement. Nonetheless, one important challenge is to obtain properly dispersed materials, especially when the percentages of reinforcements are higher than 30 wt %. In this work, composite materials with curauá fiber contents ranging from 20 wt % to 50 wt % showed a linear positive evolution of its tensile strength and Young's modulus against reinforcement content. This is an indication of good reinforcement dispersion and of favorable stress transfer at the fiber-matrix interphase. A car door handle was used as a test case to assess the suitability of curauá-based composites to replace glass fiber-reinforced composites. The mechanical analysis and a preliminary lifecycle analysis are performed to prove such ability.The light-weighting of a vehicle can be achieved by design changes, modification of the construction processes or the use of light engineering materials [2,5]. In addition to the above-mentioned regulations, the automotive industry has also to fulfill new regulations related to the end of life of the vehicles. Such regulations, like the European Union (EU) End of Life Vehicle directive, restrict the amount of vehicle that can be landfilled at its disposal. This directive enforces recovering and reusing at least 95% of the vehicle [6,7].The automotive industry has explored alternatives to steel that provide the required mechanical properties while being lighter. These materials include metals like aluminum or magnesium, polymers like polyolefin, or composite materials like glass fiber or natural fiber-reinforced polymers. Moreover, alternative materials must show technical, economic and environmental performances [2].The use of natural fiber-reinforced polymers has caught the attention of automotive industry, due to certain reasons. On the one hand, natural fibers come from renewable resources, locally available and comparatively cheaper than mineral fibers [8][9][10]. On the other hand, natural fibers are lighter than glass fibers, and thus, natural fiber-reinforced materials tend to show higher specific properties [11]. Nowadays, the use of natural fiber-reinforced composites has increased [9]. These materials are used for globe boxes, door panels, seat coverings, seat surfaces, trunk panels, trunk floors, spare tire covers, insulation, headliners, or dashboards [9,12]. The use of natural fiber-reinforced composites has been limited to non-structural or semi-structural purposes, and usually as an alternative to glass fiber-reinforced materials [9,12,13]. The most common natural fibers used as reinforcement in the automotive industry are jute, ...

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“…Most of the chemical recycling approaches discussed in open literature rely on the use of aggressive solvent mixtures, which inhibit the use of these approaches to composites reinforced with natural fibers (NF). The use of NF is however increasing in many sectors . For example, Fiore et al have indicated that flax is the most widely used NF in the European automotive industry, representing 71% of the NF consumed back in 2,000.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid biobased recyclable epoxy composites for mass production

et al. 2017

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Hybrid flax/carbon composites were studied in this artcle. The matrix used was developed using a sustainable green epoxy monomer cured by a novel cleavable amine. The combination of cleavable amine with green epoxy monomers led to a fully recyclable composite. The laminates were manufactured by using High Pressure Resin Transfer Molding with injection cycles down to 25 sec and cure cycles of 8 min at 120°C, followed by postcuring at 120°C for 1 h. The effect of the stacking sequence of the laminates was analyzed in terms of the tensile, flexural, and impact properties. A chemical recycling was also performed and the mechanical properties of the recovered thermoplastic measured. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:E2217–E2225, 2018. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers

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A review of natural fibres, their sustainability and automotive applications

Cited by 186 publications

References 15 publications

Sucrose synthase gene expression analysis in the fibre nettle (Urtica dioica L.) cultivar “clone 13”

Sucrose synthase gene expression analysis in the fibre nettle (Urtica dioica L.) cultivar “clone 13”

Explorative Study on the Use of Curauá Reinforced Polypropylene Composites for the Automotive Industry

Hybrid biobased recyclable epoxy composites for mass production

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