Coconut Coir Fiber Reinforced with Polyethylene Polymer Composites | Natural fibers and their applications

The importance of natural fibers, which have been used for hundreds of years to meet human needs such as clothing and sheltering has considerably reduced through the use of synthetic fibers toward the end of the 1900s. The increasing environmental concerns and depletion of petroleum resources have increased the importance of natural fibers once again and have stimulated researchers and industries to use sustainable fibers instead of conventional synthetic fibers. Besides mechanical and physical properties such as good specific modulus values, low density, considerable toughness properties of natural fibers, low cost, recyclability, nontoxicity, and easy accessibility properties are also attractive aspects of natural fibers and these properties allow the use of natural fiber reinforced composite products in various industries such as automotive, building, and furniture. This chapter gives information about the structure and properties of common plants, which are used as fiber sources.