Volume 8, Issue 5, 1999

Natural Vegetable Fibre / Plasticised Natural Vegetable Fibre - A Candidate for Low Cost and Fully Biodegradable Composite

Xun Lu1, Ming Qiu Zhang* 1, Min Zhi Rong1, Guang Shi1, Gui Cheng Yang2 and Han Min Zeng2

1Materials Science Institute, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275, P. R. China 2Laboratory of Polymeric Composite and Functional Materials, The Ministry of Education of China, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275, P. R. China

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed

ABSTRACT

A novel fibre composite consisting of natural vegetable fibre as the reinforcer and plasticised natural vegetable fibre as the matrix was studied. By means of cyanoethylation and chlorination, pine sawdust and chopped sisal were converted into thermoplastics and then compounded with sisal and ramie fibres. The natural fibre composite not only exhibits properties similar to those of conventional fibre composites, but also is characterised by easy processing, enviromental frendliness, low cost and capability of tailoring property due to the physically heterogeneous nature.

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