Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Natural fibers for sustainable additive manufacturing: A state of the art

review
Ravinder Tonk
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University Centre for Research and Development, Chandigarh University, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The natural fibers are among engineering materials that can be used for the production of sustainable
Received 12 July 2020 composite structures by the additive manufacturing approach. The previous studies have been reported
Received in revised form 26 August 2020 that reinforcement of fibers in its various geometrical forms can improve the mechanical, thermal, chem-
Accepted 1 September 2020
ical, surface, and morphological properties for various engineering applications. The present study is
Available online xxxx
divided into the classification and study of the natural fibers for applications in additive manufacturing
applications. The natural fibers include those fibers obtained from animal and vegetable sources. The
Keywords:
study highlights the use of the natural fibers in additive manufacturing of the parts for various applica-
Natural fibers
Additive manufacturing
tions such as; civil engineering, structural engineering and biomedical engineering applications,
Fibers Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sustainability Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
Textile printing ence on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering: Materials Science.

1. Introduction
The present manufacturing styles need technological advance-
ment for the production of sustainable materials. The sustainable
materials are those engineering materials which can be hybridized
by modern manufacturing process for the development of parts
and structures by hybridizations [1,2]. Additive manufacturing is
among those modern manufacturing processes in which the mate-
rials are hybridized for the production of sustainable materials in
the form of various application-based prototypes [3,4]. It has been
reported by many researchers that natural fibers can be blended
easily with the thermoplastic matrix for the production of sustain-
able composite materials [5–7]. The natural fibers are those fibers
extracted from plants, vegetables, and animal sources. The human-
kind is using natural fibers since the prehistoric times as the evi-
dence is found in Georgia country in from of wool and dyed flax
36,000 years back [8,9]. The natural fibers are advantageous over
the glass fiber in such a manner that it has the special features of
low density and high volume, provide better thermal resistivity,
and better protection of skin over radiation. These special features
of the natural fiber make it eligible for the reinforcement with the
polymeric materials that can be used as the input materials for the
additive manufacturing of the irradiation shield, thermal insulator,
E-mail address: ravindermtp019@outlook.com
and functional prototypes [10–12]. It has been studies that natural
fibers are can be composed in the various textures so that they can
be applied for the additive manufacturing of the textiles. The nat-
ural fibers, especially cotton, are the good sweat absorbed, soft in
nature, lightweight those can be manufactured in any size and
shape make it eligible for the input of the additive manufacturing
techniques [13–15].
Additive manufacturing is required materials for the fabrication
of functional and nonfunctional parts that are easily moldable and
can easily be formed and reshaped. The polymers are the engi-
neered materials; those are the matrix and binder materials for
the fiber. The polymer is the best-known material in which fibers
can be blended and reinforced to modify its shape and formability.
For the additive manufacturing of the fiber blend thermoplastic
materials, the various techniques can be used for the preparation
of polymeric composite. The polymeric composite preparation
methods include; injection molding, shape molding, drawing, cal-
endaring and extrusion [16–18]. Fig. 1 shows that thermoplastic
composites are the blend of natural fibers and thermoplastic poly-
meric materials.
Among these techniques of polymeric composite preparation,
the extrusion, in the form of single screw extrusion and twin screw
extrusion is the best method for input production of additive man-
ufacturing. The single screw extrusion and twin screw extrusion
are used to form the feedstock filaments by blending natural fibers

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.09.017
2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering:
Materials Science.

Please cite this article as: R. Tonk, Natural fibers for sustainable additive manufacturing: A state of the art review, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.09.017
R. Tonk
Fig. 1. Thermoplastic composite preparation.
with the polymers, which is further used for the fused filament fab-
rication type additive manufacturing [19–21].
The previous studies highlighted the investigation of the
mechanical, thermal, fusion, and surface properties of the natural
fibers. It has been observed that natural fibers have the potential
for the preparation of the thermoplastic composite materials. Some
of the studies have highlighted the applications of natural fibers
reinforced thermoplastic materials in various fields. The present
study is divided into the classification and study of the natural
fibers for applications in additive manufacturing applications.
The natural fibers include those fibers obtained from animal and
vegetable sources.
2. Animal fibers in additive manufacturing
The animal fibers are classified under the categories of those
fibers which contain the particular protein of animal source. For
example, the protein structures, including the silk and hairs, are
classified under the animal fibers, which are further considered
under the natural fibers [22,23]. The animal fibers are broadly
divided into the hair fiber and sericteries fibers. The hair fibers
are processed from the source of wool, animal hair, and horsehair.
The serictery fibers are fibers that are obtained from silk sources.
Fig. 2 shows the broad classification of the animal fibers [24–26].
The animal fibers are greatly accepted by the biomedical engi-
neering fields where the preparation of biomedical scaffolds can
Fig. 2. Animal fibers in additive manufacturing.
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be performed by the reinforcement of the animal fibers in the
biodegradable and biocompatible thermoplastics [19,27,28]. The
animal natural fibers are best known for their biocompatibility
with human tissues and biodegradability with the environment.
This biodegradability and biocompatibility features of the animal
fibers allow it to apply in the production of biomedical implants
[29–32]. The additive manufacturing techniques have been
explored largely for tissue engineering application in the recent
past [33,34].
3. Vegetable fibers in additive manufacturing
The vegetable fibers are those fibers that are extracted from the
plant sources such as almond, banana, jute, and hemp, etc. The veg-
etable fiber is also divided into four basic categories, namely; inner
bark fibers, seed fibers, leaf fibers, and fruit fibers [35,36]. The
inner bark fiber those fibers are obtained from the innermost layer
of the plants. The inner bark fibers are the class of the living tissue,
which provides biocompatibility of the thermoplastic composites
after blending [37]. Fig. 3 shows the classification of the vegetable
fibers for additive manufacturing applications.
The flex, hemp, jute, kenaf, and ramie are some of the inner bark
fiber that can be used as blending materials in the thermoplastic
matrix for the composite preparation in specific studies. The seed
fibers are those fibers which are obtained from the outer shell of
the seed [38–40]. The almond skin fiber and silk fiber are some
of those vegetable fibers that are largely used in the preparation
of the biomedical scaffolds. The abaca and sisal are some of the leaf
fibers which are used for the preparation of thermoplastic compos-
ites in civil engineering structures. The excellent biodegradability
of the leaf fibers makes it eligible for the additive manufacturing
of the thermoplastic composites. Coir is fruit fiber that is extracted
from the outer husk of the coconut. Some of the studies have
reported for the use of the coir fiber for the improvement of
mechanical and surface properties [32,41–44].
The excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, mechanical
properties, thermal properties, and surface properties are some of
the reasons that today’s additive manufacturing is adopting this
at the larger scale for the production of functional/nonfunctional
prototype in engineering and medical fields [44–47]. Some of the
previous studies highlighted that void formation lead porous parts,
incomplete or lower adhesion, choking of the material in the addi-
tive manufacturing process, the poor dispersion through the poly-
mer blends and higher processing time are some of the problems
those are must be addressed for defect-free production of func-
R. Tonk
Fig. 3. Vegetable fibers in additive manufacturing.
tional/nonfunctional prototypes [48,49]. Some of the researchers
have highlighted that modifying the polymeric-fiber blends by
the hybrid mixing of the man-made and natural fibers can open
the route for the defect-free production with additive manufactur-
ing [50,51].
4. Conclusions
Following conclusions are made from this state of the art review
of natural fibers for sustainable additive manufacturing:
 The additive manufacturing is among those modern manufac-
turing process in which the materials are hybridized for the pro-
duction of sustainable materials in the form of various
application-based prototypes
 The excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, mechanical
properties, thermal properties, and surface properties are some
of the reasons that today’s additive manufacturing is adopting
this at the larger scale for the production of functional/nonfunc-
tional prototype in engineering and medical fields.
 The animal fibers are greatly accepted by the biomedical engi-
neering fields where the preparation of biomedical scaffolds
can be performed by the reinforcement of the animal fibers in
the biodegradable and biocompatible thermoplastics
 It has been observed that natural fibers have the potential for
the preparation of the thermoplastic composite materials. Some
of the studies have highlighted the applications of natural fibers
reinforced thermoplastic materials in various fields.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
3
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Acknowledgement
The authors are highly thankful to University Center for
Research and Development, Chandigarh University, for technical
assistance.
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