Natural composites for bettering the environment [Keynote]

Recently, the demand on sourcing green materials for different product applications have increased substantially due to the change of worldwide legislations forcing to reduce carbon footprints and the increase of fuel price. Under such circumstance, natural materials have been used gradually, as reinforcements or substitutions to replace traditional synthetic polymers. The most common types of materials including natural fibres (sisal, hemp, flax, bamboo and animal feather), bioresin and nano-particles extracted from the nature. Many research works have been conducted in the past few years to examine the viability and feasibility of using these materials to form new classes of biocomposites. However, due to these materials are extracted from the nature, their properties are highly dependent on many geographic, environmental and climatic factors of the origin of materials. Manufacturing processes for these materials are also the key on how to produce repeatable and reliable products. In this lecture, a comprehensive review on the properties (materials, mechanical, thermal and manufacturing) of these materials and their composites will be discussed. Their impact to the environment and long-term inspection by using smart technologies will also be studied