In recent years, natural fiber and its composites have attracted researchers due to environmental awareness. It is essential to identify new cellulose fibers for the potential polymer reinforcement. The current study deals with the investigation of natural cellulosic fibers extracted from the stem of Leucas aspera plants. The obtained fibers were treated with silane for effective use in composite applications. The physical, chemical, crystallinity, thermal stability, and morphological characteristics were analyzed for both untreated and silane-treated Leucas aspera fibers using chemical analysis, X-Ray diffraction test, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and SEM images. The results showed that silane treatment removed excess lignin, wax and hemicellulose contents from Leucas aspera fibers and helped to increase its bonding characteristics with the matrix in composite applications leading to enhanced results compared to the untreated samples. There was a 2.1 times increase in crystalline index and better thermal stability with a char residue of 39%. To prove the applications' suitability, epoxy composites and friction composites in the form of brake pads were developed and analyzed for their mechanical performance as per ASTM and standard industrial practice. Increase in ultimate tensile strength was 56 MPa for silane-treated Leucas aspera fiber based epoxy composites while it was 43 MPa compared to its untreated samples. In brake pads, hardness was 93 for silane-treated LA fiber-based brake pads and 87 for the untreated.

The need for environmental friendly materials have stimulated researchers to carry out works in natural fibers, which are substitute for human-made synthetic fibers in many lightweight medium load applications. In the present work, Vachellia farnesiana fiber was selected as a natural fiber. The obtained Vachellia farnesiana fibers were characterized for physical and chemical properties, Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and, tensile strength. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used to capture its morphological characteristics. The outcome of the chemical analysis showed the weight percentage of ɑ-cellulose, hemicellulose, moisture content, wax, density and the same was confirmed by the output of the FTIR test. XRD test results showed that Vachellia farnesiana fiber had a crystallinity index of 13% and a crystal size of 31.89 nm. Thermal analysis showed a char residue of 28.71%.

The current study deals with the investigation on the properties of lignocellulose fiber from the stem of Cardiospermum Halicababum. The Cardiospermum Halicababum fibers (CHF) were extracted from its stem by manual retting process. The retted fibers were analyzed for various physical, chemical, crystalline, thermal stability, tensile and morphological properties as per standard procedure. From the chemical investigation, it was found that the CHF has cellulose (59.82%), hemicellulose (16.75%), lignin (9.3%) and wax (1.3%). The CHF possessed a crystallinity index of 32.21%, with thermal stability up to 336°C. The average ultimate tensile strength of CHF was 20.7 ± 1.0 MPa. Morphological characteristics showed lesser lacuna space in between the cell walls thereby preventing the reduction in strength properties.