Improved Engineering Tribological Property of Natural Fibres by Surface Modifications: A Review

Increasing interest in natural fibres for composite material formation and applications informs the aim of this paper on review of various surface modification methods employed towards the improvement of the Tribological properties of these fibres for interfacial bonding with polymer matrices. Natural fibres have wonderful properties ranging from accessibility, bi-degradability, recyclability, low density and many more but have particular negative characteristic that needs to be corrected in order to improve its surface interaction with composite matrices; which is their great affinity for water. Different methods of treating natural fibres have been applied towards reducing the hydrophilic nature of these fibres. These surface modification processes do not only reduce water absorption capability of these fibres but also increases fibrillation and material wettability. This review of literatures showed that mercerization treatment and acetylation treatment are the most applicable surface modifications or treatments for natural fibres.