Natural Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Composites and Nanocomposites for Automotive Applications

Abstract

As industry attempts to lessen the dependence on petroleum-based fuels and products, there is an increasing need to investigate more environmentally friendly, sustainable materials to replace the existing glass fibre and carbon fibre-reinforced materials. Therefore, attention has recently shifted to the fabrication and properties of natural fibre-reinforced materials. The automotive industries have demonstrated an interest in using more natural fibre-reinforced composites. For example, in order to reduce vehicle weight, automotive companies have already shifted from steel to aluminium and now are shifting from aluminium to fibre-reinforced composites for some applications [1]. This has led to predictions that in the near future plastics and polymer composites will form a significant fraction of total automobile weight.