The increase in awareness of the damage caused by synthetic materials on the environment has led to the development of eco-friendly materials. The researchers have shown a lot of interest in developing such materials which can replace the synthetic materials. As a result, there is an increase in demand for commercial use of the natural fiber-based composites in recent years for various industrial sectors. Natural fibers are sustainable materials which are easily available in nature and have advantages like low-cost, lightweight, renewability, biodegradability, and high specific properties. The sustainability of the natural fiber-based composite materials has led to upsurge its applications in various manufacturing sectors. In this paper, we have reviewed the different sources of natural fibers, their properties, modification of natural fibers, the effect of treatments on natural fibers, etc. We also summarize the major applications of natural fibers and their effective use as reinforcement for polymer composite materials.

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The composite industry was attracted by natural fiber reinforced polymer materials for various valuable engineering applications due to its ecofriendly nature, less cost, and enhanced mechanical and thermal properties. This present work aimed at incorporating sisal and kevlar woven fabrics with the epoxy matrix and studying the effect of Pongamia pinnata shell powder on the sisal/ kevlar hybrid composite. Six different laminates were prepared using hand layup method with filler percentage varying 2, 4, and 6 wt%. The prepared laminates cut according to the ASTM standards for performing different mechanical tests. Results reveal that the reduction of void percentage was observed at higher filler contents, while the incorporation of kevlar fabric enhances the impact strength by 279%, tensile strength by 89.77%, and tensile modulus value by 2% in comparison with pure natural fabric laminate L-1. The flexural strength and interlaminar shear strength were higher for 2% filler composites, while the highest flexural modulus and hardness values were observed for 6% filler-filled composites. The water absorption percentage was maximum for sisal laminate L-1 and minimum for kevlar laminate L-2. The fractured tensile and flexural specimens were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy.

The present experimental investigation focuses on the development of Areca/ Sisal/Carbon reinforced epoxy hybrid composites under various stacking sequences and involves the assessment of their mechanical and morphological properties to evaluate their use in some railway interior applications. Nine different combinations of laminates were prepared by using the manual hand layup technique. Mechanical experiments such as tensile, flexural, impact, inter-laminar shear strength and hardness tests were performed and the results envied the positive values which suggest the use of composites prepared in the study to be employed in some railway interior parts. The morphology of the composites was scrutinized using scanning electron microscopy and exposed the proper agglomeration of fibers in the matrix which in turn has influenced better mechanical properties. The experimental results convey that the hybridization of natural and synthetic fibers in polymer matrix would be an exciting prospect to be utilized in some railway interior applications.

In this research work, the natural fiber reinforced hybrid epoxy composites were fabricated using the hand lay‐up method. The flax and kevlar are used as a reinforcement and epoxy as a binding material. This study aims to analyze the influence of stacking sequence and hybridization on the mechanical, water absorption, and morphological properties of polymer composites. The results reveal that the neat kevlar reinforced composite achieved a maximum tensile strength, modulus, and impact strength of 189.94 MPa, 2345.35 MPa and 37.16 kJ/m2 respectively with less water absorption behavior. Whereas, the hybrid composite with kevlar as an outer layers and flax as core layers was exhibited a maximum flexural strength, modulus, and inter laminar shear strength of 360.76, 37124.2, and 213.51 MPa, respectively. The water absorption percentage was more in neat natural flax reinforced epoxy composite due to its more hydrophilic nature. The scanning electron microscope analysis reveals the proper bonding and adhesion of both kevlar and flax fabrics with the epoxy matrix.