Biocomposites with high strength and thermal and noise insulation by reinforcing polypropylene with stems and fibers from Arundinaria gigantea

Abstract Arundinaria gigantea commonly referred to as giant cane (GC) shows potential to be a sustainable, renewable, and low‐cost source for natural cellulose fibers and biocomposites. GC is considered a weed and is found extensively, particularly along river banks and also as canopy under forest trees. The grass is made up of stems (culms) that resemble bamboo but with smaller diameters. In this study, the possibility of extracting natural cellulose fibers from the culms and also to utilize the culms directly as reinforcement for polypropylene (PP) biocomposites has been explored. Natural cellulose fibers extracted from the culms had cellulose content of about 50%. The fibers had considerably high tensile strength of 543 MPa and elongation of 5.6%. Biocomposites with varying tensile and flexural properties could be obtained depending on the proportion of the reinforcement and matrix and density of the biocomposites. Furthermore, reinforcing PP with GC increased acoustic sorption but decreased thermal conductivity. GC offers potential to develop fibers and biocomposites with desired properties as a substitute to the conventional lignocellulosic fibers obtained from fiber crops.