Processing of plant fiber composites by liquid molding techniques: An overview

Abstract

Lately, researchers around the world have developed effective chemical and physical treatments on plant fibers to improve their compatibility with polymeric matrices. In addition, the need of high performance fabrics produced from plant fibers has been addressed by many manufacturers of textile reinforcements. These facts have increased the use of natural fibers in the composite industry. Liquid composite molding (LCM) techniques are suitable for mass production of highquality composite parts. Basically, the reinforcement is compressed inside a mold and a thermosetting resin is injected to impregnate the fibers and fill the empty spaces in the mold. After the resin cures, the composite part is demolded. However, the processing of plant fiber-reinforced composites by the traditional techniques is not trivial, because the structure of plant fibers is more complex than that of synthetic fibers and due to their chemical composition rich in cellulose and hemicellulose, they are highly hydrophilic. This work presents a review on the main issues that arise during the processing of plant fiber reinforced composites by traditional liquid composite molding techniques. POLYM. COM-POS., 37:718-733, FIG. 5. Empirical compaction models for plant fiber fabrics. (a) Complete fiber content range, (b) low fiber content range, and (c) high fiber content range.

Cellulose microcrystal improved interphase of ramie fiber‐reinforced epoxy resin composites

“…To improve interfacial adhesion of natural fiberreinforced polymer composites, natural fibers are generally modified by chemical modifications such as alkaline [23], amino silicone oil [24], and maleic anhydride [25] treatment, and physical methods such as plasma [26], carbon nanotube coating [27], and cellulose microcrystal (CMC) powder deposition treatment [28]. CMC possesses high strength and stiffness combined with lower density than 1.5 g/cm 3 , renewability, and good compatibility with resin and natural fiber. Similar to carbon nanotube (CNT), CMC could be used as high-performance reinforcement especially for natural fiber-reinforced composites attributed to the specific mechanical properties.…”

Capillary effects in vacuum‐assisted resin transfer molding with natural fibers

“…Liquid composite molding (LCM) techniques have proven to be suitable for processing NFC [1]. In previous works [2,3], we have studied the relationship between saturated and unsaturated permeability and the compaction response of natural fiber fabrics. Nevertheless, there are still some practical issues regarding the infusion of natural reinforcements, for example, the difficulty to impregnate the fibers under vacuum at room temperature, which leads to important void formation within the tows.…”

Effect of poly-methyltriethoxysilane on the waterproof property of starch/fiber composites with open cell structures

“…At present, with the rapid development of express packaging industries, the problems including environmental pollution and non-renewable resource consumption caused by plastic packing materials have become prevailing concerns among environmental science communities. [1][2][3] To solve these issues, scholars have focused on identifying biodegradable composites prepared using renewable natural polymers (e.g., starch, ber, lignin, polylactic acid (PLA), poly-b-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), and chitosan). 4,5 In particular, plant ber and starch, as the most abundant organic compounds found in nature, are ideal materials for the preparation of biomass composites.…”