Determination of Rheological Properties of Natural Fiber Polymer Composites

Researchers around the globe focus on advancing new materials that would upgrade the environmental quality of products because the world is in urgent need of more eco-friendly materials. This desire for new green materials has prompted the employment of composites obtained from raw natural/agro-waste fibers and polymer matrices, and this has become one of the most extensively explored research fields lately. Natural fiber composites are an alternative for substituting environmentally toxic synthetic materials and assist to combat pollution issues. Besides, they are cheap, have improved mechanical properties and need reduced production energy consumption. Moreover, the application of such materials in fabrication projects, offers the possibility to enhance their sustainability by cutting manufacturing wastes. Rheology is the science of the study of how materials deform when a force is applied to them. The majority of these materials are liquids or liquid-like in nature. The applications addressed here are for polymer systems that are still molten (viscoelastic). Rheology is a valuable and useful tool for better understanding raw material quality management, production processes, and final product performance prediction. Rheology, in particular, helps to clarify the involvement of fibers/fillers in the rheological properties of polymer composites. The rheological properties of natural fiber polymer composites are discussed briefly and concisely in this work.