Development of New Functional Composites from Onion and Short Natural Fibers

In this study, the waste onion was chosen and used as the matrix material, and the bamboo pulps and tussah silk fibers were used as reinforcing materials. By efficient mixing process, a new type bio‐composite with excellent mechanical and antibacterial properties was developed by papermaking method. The tensile property and antibacterial action were studied in detail. The consequence indicated that the onion had definite matrix property, and the mechanical properties were further improved by adding bamboo pulps and tussah silk fibers. With the fiber content increasing, the tensile properties of composites increased, and the tussah silk/onion composite exhibited the better tensile properties than that of bamboo/onion composite. The flavonoids extracted from abandoned onion skins can be used as the antibacterial finishing agent to improve the inhibition property of the tussah silk/onion composite. The experiment consequence indicated that the finished composite had a certain antibacterial action against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.