Recent advancements in the application of natural fibre/particulate based polymer composites in automotive industry: a review on sustainable development

The global environmental protection legislations, desire for cost-saving and weight reduction, and depleting petroleum-based raw materials have been the driving force behind the adoption of cellulosic fibres/particulates as reinforcing fillers and materials in polymer-based composites for diverse applications in these modern days. Natural fibres/particulates offer the benefits of biodegradability, sustainability, renewability, and lightweight. Therefore, it has been established that natural fibre/particulate-based polymer composites meet the environmentally friendly demands of the automotive industry. Thus, plant fibre/particulate-based polymeric composites are increasingly replacing non-biodegradable synthetic fibre/particulates-based composites and high energy-consuming products in automobile applications. This review provides an overview of cellulosic fibre/particulate-based polymeric composites in automobile body parts, the commonly used plant fibres/particulates, and their respective specific application areas in the automobile industry. The review also focused on different polymeric matrices for cellulosic fibre/particulate-based composites, the properties of the developed vegetable fibre/particulate-based composites, challenges associated with this class of engineering materials, and various strategies reported in literature for overcoming these challenges. The review showed that surface modification and treatment, hybridization, incorporation of nano-fillers, and advancement in the composite manufacturing processes are effective in addressing the identified challenges of plant fibre/particulate-based composites hindering their application in the automobile industry. Hence, the paper reviews the recent advances in the applications of plant fibre/particulate-based polymer composites in the automobile industry.