Rayon-kenaf Composites
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• Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus), is a plant in the Malvaceae family.Hibiscus cannabinus is in the genus Hibiscus and is probably native to southern Asia, though its exact natural origin is unknown.
• Other names include Bimli, Ambary, Ambari Hemp, Deccan Hemp, and Bimlipatum Jute.
  It is an annual or biennial herbaceous plant (rarely a short-lived perennial) growing to 1.5-3.5 m tall with a woody base. The stems are 1–2 cm diameter, often but not always branched.
• The main uses of kenaf fibre have been rope, twine, coarse cloth (similar to that made from jute), and paper.
• Kenaf’s major use for several decades was in the pulp and paper industry as a substitution of wood due to world wide decrease of forest resources
• Rayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulose fiber. Because it is produced from naturally occurring polymers, it is neither a truly synthetic fiber nor a natural fiber; it is a semi-synthetic or artificial fiber.
• Rayon is known by the names viscose rayon and art silk in the textile industry. It usually has a high luster quality giving it a bright sheen.
• Kenaf fibers also have a higher reinforcing effect on natural rubber compared with that of synthetic polyester fibers, and improved the rheological properties of the rubber
• kenaf has attracted attention in recent decades as an abundant natural fiber source in the field of fiber reinforced composites.
• The major problem raised in the natural fiber reinforced material is the low adhesion between the surface of the filler (natural fiber) and the matrix (synthetic material).
• Kenaf is ideal for making automotive nonwoven composites because of its high strength and porosity structure
• Biocomposites filled by kenaf have higher strength and stiffness than ones filled with wood fibre
• Softer treatment of the kenaf fibers under neutral condition after alkali extraction helps to get finer fibers to pass the carding machine, with nearly no
  negative affect on the fiber strength
• It was found that nonwovens made of retted kenaf fibers blended with cotton fibers, recycled polyester, and off-quality polypropylene could meet industry specifications of flammability, odor, mildew and strength properties
• Other than chemical extraction (also called chemical retting), fibers could also be
  extracted from the kenaf plant by bacterial retting, i.e., anaerobic bacteria fermentation or
  dew-retting by aerobic fungi
• The current state of biopolymer technology usually dictates that synthetic thermoplastics or thermosetting materials, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, are used in commercial biocomposite production

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