Overthe last decade, composites of polymers reinforced with natural fibres havereceived ever increasing attention, both from the academic world and fromvarious industries. There is a widevariety of different natural fibres which can be applied as reinforces or fillers,a diagram with a classification of the various fibres. All these natural fibresconsist of long cells with relatively thick cell walls which make them stiffand strong. In most of the fibre plants the cells are glued together intolong thin fibres, the length of which is dependent on the length of the plant. Thefibres may differ in coarseness, in the length of the cells and in thestrength and stiffness of the cellwalls. The most important of the natural fibres used in composite materials areflax, hemp, jute, kenaf and sisal, due to their properties and availability.Flax, hemp, jute and kenaf are bast fibres, fibres which develop in the bast of theplant. Flax, hemp and jute have more orless similar morphologies and can havesimilar functions in the composite. These fibres are composed mainly of celluloseand some lignin and are sometimes called ligno-cellulosic fibres. Naturalfibres are also expected to give less health problems for the people producingthe composites.

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About the Authors:

M. Janarthanan is an Assistant Professor at the Angel College ofEngineering and Technology, Tirupur

& M. Mohan Raj is a student of 3^rd year in FashionTechnology at Angel College of Engineering and Technology, Tirupur

This article wasoriginally published in the Textile Review magazine, October, 2012, publishedby Saket Projects Limited, Ahmedabad.