Experimental Studies on Behavior of Keratin Based Human Hair Fiber - A New Reinforcing Material for Composites

Abstract

Composite materials are formed by two or more constituents at macroscopic level. Type and form of fiber plays a vital role in imparting required properties to the composite. Many researchers contributed to the development of artificial fiber composites which are not environmental friendly in nature. Sizable research is also done in the area of natural fiber composites. Human hair is a non-biodegradable waste available in abundant quantity across the world, but is rarely explored for applications in engineering fields. In the present study, a review on behavior of human hair fibers was made to understand their suitability as a reinforcing material in composites. Morphology of the hair fibers is reviewed and the density of the hair fibers was determined using Archimedes principle. Tensile strength of the hair fibers is experimentally estimated. Chemical resistivity and burning tests were conducted. Tensile and flexural properties of hair fiber reinforced polyester composite were experimentally determined and compared.

Comparison of fibers from hop rich biogas digestate with natural fibers as raw material for composites

“…In the field of composites investigations into the use of recycled fiber or plastics, waste from natural fiber production, and other agricultural wastes are intensified (Macatangay, Magundayao, and Rosales 2012;Ramamoorthy, Persson, and Skrifvars 2014). Some examples of alternative materials in composites are feathers (Mishra and Nayak 2010), coconut waste (Bradley and Conroy 2019;Sergion et al 2005) or hair from coffieurs (Eshwara, Divakara, and Udaya 2018). In the mentioned studies it is said that the materials are chosen because of their high amount and because they are regionally available.…”

Influences of various natural fibers on the mechanical and drilling characteristics of coir-fiber-based hybrid epoxy composites

“…The impact strength of Calotropis fiber mixed coir composite is 2.3 kJ m −2 , which is similar to that of pure coir fiber composite due to the good elongation and average tensile strength of the fiber [30]. The minimum impact strength (2.14 kJ m −2 ) has been obtained by mixing human hair due to its low tensile strength and poor interfacial bond between the hair surface and matrix [31,32]. Cotton fiber mixed with coir fiber composite has a lower impact strength (2.25 kJ m −2 ) due to low interfacial bonding strength and low Young's modules [26,28,29].…”

“…The poor interfacial bonding between cotton fiber and matrix is attributed to the low surface roughness and low wettability of cotton fiber [21]. The tensile strength is reduced to 28.12 MPa (22.4% lower than pure coir composite) by the human hair fiber due to the low tensile strength of hair fiber (4.1 MPa) and poor stress transfer between the matrix and mixed fibers [31,32]. Similarly, due to the low tensile strength of Calotropis fiber (25.1 MPa), the tensile strength is reduced to 31.76 MPa (12.4% lower than pure coir fiber composite) [30].…”

“…However, it is slightly lower than sisal fiber composites due to low elongation percentages and some impurities in the flax fiber [26]. The 41.50 MPa flexural strength was obtained by mixing human hair fiber in the composite due to its high elongation percentage [31,32]. The flexural strengths of jute, flax, cotton, kenaf, and Calotropis fibers are 42.43 MPa, 46.77 MPa, 39.67 MPa, 44.84 MPa, and 43.46 MPa, respectively.…”