Natural Fibers and Biocomposites A Sustainable Solution

Natural fibers' abundance, excellent properties, biodegradability, and low cost make this renewable resource a green alternative to synthetic fibers for composite material reinforcement. The need to create sustainable solutions has promoted applications in sports, transportation, armor, medicine, infrastructure, construction and building materials, and architecture. This collection promotes the use of natural materials and their composites as a possible strategy to increase environmental sustainability, as well as to study materials fundamentals for new applications. Topics include but are not limited to:

•           Properties and fundamentals of natural fibers

•           Surface modifications to improve properties

•           Biocomposite materials and potential contributions to sustainability

•           Durability, dynamic behavior, adhesion, impact response, mechanical, thermal, and other properties related to natural materials and their composites

Henry A. Colorado Lopera, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia;

Sergio Neves Monteiro, Instituto Militar de Engenharia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;

Felipe Perisse Duarte Lopes, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;

Carlos Castano Londono, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA;

Marc A. Meyers, University of California San Diego, San Diego, USA;

George Youssef, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA;

Daniel Salazar, BCMaterials, Leioa, Spain