Dear Colleagues,

This century has witnessed remarkable achievements in the field of material science through the development of high-performance materials made from natural resources, the interest in which is increasing worldwide. The abundant availability and accessibility of plant fibers are the major reasons for an emerging new interest in sustainable technology. Plant fibers fuel sustainable technology due to their natural availability and utilization for various applications, which is currently an emerging area for researchers. Plant fibers are characterized by better specific strength, eco-friendliness, and lightweight, and these properties render them favorable alternatives when used to make composite materials. High-performance materials derived from naturally available resources have gained global attention, which is evident from the advancements in material science through green composites. For around 100 decades, plant fibers have remained a remarkable natural resource and are completely sustainable due to their nature and clever use by humans. Nevertheless, plant-fiber-reinforced composites pose several constraints because their properties fall within a very broad spectrum. Some factors such as fiber surface modification, the type of plant fiber, the method of processing the fiber, and the environment of its application govern the properties of plant-fiber-reinforced composites. This Special Issue comprehensively elucidates the overall properties of plant fibers in terms of their composition, structure, available sources, and classification, along with the properties of the composites derived from those plant fibers. Contributions that address the applications, cutting-edge developments, and future scope of plant fiber composites are also included in this issue.  

This Special Issue on plant-fiber-reinforced composites contains all the necessary information for a researcher to pursue an experimental study or review the research on this topic. This issue stands out because it holds the data amassed from original research work carried out by authors from various fields, mostly during the last three years. Hence, the gaps identified by recent researchers are also highlighted, which address the modern-day requirements of plant fiber composites. This issue provides a unique contribution to the field by its emphasis on the “latest updates in the research of plant fiber reinforced composites”. Since the Guest Editors have expertise in the same field, the compilation of research data from the works carried out by the contributing editors/authors will deal with the latest ground-breaking techniques in the processing of plant fibers and the fabrication and characterization of plant fiber composites. High-quality original research/review articles concerning the following topics fall under the scope of this Special Issue:

• Plant fiber extraction methods;
• Surface modification techniques of plant fibers;
• Fiber/matrix interface engineering in plant fiber composites;
• Processing methods of plant fiber composites;
• Plant-fiber-based hybrid composites;
• Mechanical properties of plant fiber composites;
• Thermal properties of plant fiber composites;
• Tribological properties of plant fiber composites;
• Water absorption properties of plant fiber composites;
• Morphological properties of plant fiber composites;
• Lifecycle assessment of plant fibers and their composites;
• Finite element modeling of plant fiber composites;
• Machining and machinability of plant fiber composites;
• Industrial applications of plant fiber composites.

Prof. Dr. Manickam Ramesh
Dr. Lakshminarasimhan Rajeshkumar
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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• plant fibers
• surface modification
• interface engineering
• green composites
• sustainable materials
• processing methods
• properties
• lifecycle assessment
• machinability
• applications