Natural-fiber-reinforced composites, especially bamboo, are an alternative material to compete with conventional materials. Their environmentally friendly, renewable, low-cost, low-density, non-toxic, and fully biodegradable properties are concerning for researchers because of their advantages over synthetic polymers. This comprehensive review presents the results of work on bamboo fiber composites with special reference to bamboo types, thermoplastic and thermoset polymers matrices, hybrid composites, and their applications. In addition, several studies prove that these properties are very good and efficient in various applications. However, in the development of composite technology, bamboo fiber has certain constraints, especially in moisture conditions. Moisture is one of the factors that reduces the potential of bamboo fiber and makes it a critical issue in the manufacturing industry. Therefore, various efforts have been made to ensure that these properties are not affected by moisture by treating the surface fibers using chemical treatments.

The thermal behaviour of filament materials is one of the most important characteristics to study to produce quality filament since the FDM process strongly relies on heating operations such as mixing and printing. To develop composite filament FDM using recycled polypropylene and wood dust fibre (r-WoPPc), the thermal properties of these recycled materials were investigated. Wood dust and recycled PP are by-products of the furniture and plastics industries, and their thermal characteristics may change during manufacturing. Furthermore, wood dust is typically subjected to several cleaning and treatment processes to have a cleaner and impurity-free dust as well as better adhesion with the recycled PP matrix, which both processes may affect its thermal properties. Therefore, TGA and DSC analyses are conducted to ensure its thermal properties before developing the filament. Untreated, NaOH and silane treated wood dust and recycled PP was subjected to TGA and DSC analyses. Wood dust treated with silane had the highest combustion resistance at 372°C compared to untreated wood dust at 360°C and NaOH treated at 320°C. Meanwhile, DSC analysis of recycled PP indicated that it melted at 167°C, which was used to establish the filament extrusion and printing temperatures. In a conclusion, these studies provided a point of reference for determining filament extrusion and printing temperatures.

Due to the significant energy consumption of the air conditioner (AC), an alternative energy-saving method is required. To achieve this objective, the design of a building's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems must comply to the energy consumption criteria without sacrificing occupant comfort. In this instance, the personal comfort system (PCS) provides a promising means of meeting the demand. This paper aims to summarize the recent discoveries and research on personal comfort systems combined with fan usage. The PCS in conjunction with fan use, which is regarded as the most prevalent thermal adaptation behaviour, offers advantages in terms of conditioning the indoor thermal environment, modulating the person's interaction with the surrounding environmental control system, and reducing the excessive use of energy on HVAC.

Pertanika Journal information and guidelines