Coir fiber as thermal insulator and its performance as reinforcing material in biocomposite production

Md Arif Mahmud; Nafis Abir; Ferdausee Rahman Anannya; Ayub Nabi Khan; A N M Masudur Rahman; Nasrin Jamine

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15597

Coir fiber as thermal insulator and its performance as reinforcing material in biocomposite production

Heliyon. 2023 Apr 19;9(5):e15597. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15597. eCollection 2023 May.

Authors

Md Arif Mahmud¹, Nafis Abir², Ferdausee Rahman Anannya³, Ayub Nabi Khan⁴, A N M Masudur Rahman^{5

6}, Nasrin Jamine⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Textile Engineering, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Dhaka, 1208, Bangladesh.
² Department of Textile Engineering, BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology, Dhaka, 1230, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Textile Engineering and Management, BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology, Dhaka, 1230, Bangladesh.
⁴ BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology, Dhaka, 1230, Bangladesh.
⁵ Bangladesh University of Textiles, Dhaka, 1208, Bangladesh.
⁶ College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China.
⁷ Department of Apparel Merchandising & Management, BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology, Dhaka, 1230, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Coir is a lignocellulosic natural fiber derived from the coconut's husk, an abundantly found fruit or nut worldwide. This fiber has some unique characteristics, such as its resistance to seawater, microbial attack, high impact, etc. But its low thermal conductivity or high thermal insulating property makes it suitable for being used as insulators in civil engineering sites. On the other hand, the sustainability of a material depends heavily on its environmental impact of the material. For making sustainable materials like biocomposite, there are no options other than using polymers derived from natural renewable sources. Polylactic acid(PLA) is an example of those types of material. And these materials are often being reinforced by fibers like coir for various reasons including improving mechanical properties, reducing the cost of the material, and improving the material's sustainability. Many coir-reinforced sustainable biopolymer composites have already been produced in many pieces of research, which will be discussed in this paper, along with the chemical and physical structure of coir fiber. In addition, this paper will try to focus on the insulating properties of coir and coir-reinforced composites while will also compare some properties of the composites with some commonly used materials based on different parameters to show the suitability of using the coir fiber in heat-insulating applications and to produce sustainable biocomposite materials.

Keywords: Alkali treatment; Bio-polymer; Cellulose; Conductivity; Insulation; Sustainable.

Publication types

Review