Author details

and fibers. The mentioned studies [13–16] reported that with increasing the fiber content, the onset degradation temperature of the composites increased and the weight loss decreased. Thus, the thermal stability of the composites improved with increasing the fibers content. This improvement was attributed to the higher thermal stability of the cellulosic fibers when compared with starch and the good compatibility of both polysaccharides. Moreover, proper selection of the surface treatment technique of the fibers plays a prominent role in improving

In short, the parameters obtained from the thermal characterization of TPS/lignocellulosic fiber composites are useful in identifying the temperature limits of treatment, processing, or operating both matrix and fibers. Moreover, these parameters are useful in comparing the thermal

• For flax, bagasse, DPF, and banana composites, samples with 50-60 wt% fibers manifest the highest tensile strength of 8-15 times what was recorded by 0% composite (less than

• In 80 wt% composite, insufficient matrix is unable to transfer load and fill the gaps

• Kelly-Tyson (random) model shows the best fit for the mentioned composites, which can be attributed to the realistic assumptions that count for the randomness of the fibers

• For hemp composite, strength can be increased to 365 MPa, when increasing fiber content to 70%. Small diameter and continous fibers with such high strength (702 MPa) led to the

• ROM model can be used for tensile strength and modulus prediction for hemp composites

• The moisture absorption of TPS/lignocellulosic fiber composites is affected by the fiber type and content. Increasing the fiber content and choosing a fiber with high cellulose content improve the moisture resistance of the composites. Moreover, proper selection of

• The moisture absorption behavior can be modeled successfully by Fick's law of diffusion. • The thermal stability of the TPS/lignocellulosic fiber composites is improved with increasing the fiber content. This is attributed to the high thermal stability of cellulose when compared to starch. Furthermore, proper selection of the surface treatment technique of the fiber enhances the thermal stability of the fiber itself and the resultant composite.

• Halpin-Tsai (random) is the most suitable model to predict starch composite behavior.

the surface treatment technique of the fiber highly modifies its water resistance.

between fibers, leading to severely deteriorated tensile properties.

the thermal stability of the resultant composite.

60 Composites from Renewable and Sustainable Materials

4 MPa strength for 0% fiber content).

significant composite strength improvement.

in case of fiber continouty in the composite.

during preparation.

3. Conclusion

performance of various TPS/lignocellulosic fiber composites.

Sherif Mehanny1\*, Lamis Darwish2 , Hamdy Ibrahim1 , Mohamed Tarek El-Wakad2 and Mahmoud Farag3

\*Address all correspondence to: smehanny@gmail.com

