There is a growing interest in the development of natural fiber-reinforced composites, most likely due to their wide availability, low cost, environment friendliness, and sustainability. The market size for natural fiber-reinforced composites is projected to reach $5.83 billion by 2019, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.3%. The composite materials reinforced with wood, cotton, jute, flax or other natural fibers fall under this category. Meanwhile, some major factors limiting the large scale production of natural fiber composites include the tendency of natural fiber to absorb water, degradation by microorganisms and sunlight and ultimately low strength and service life. This paper has focused to review the different natural fiber treatments used to reduce the moisture absorption and fiber degradation. The effect of these treatments on the mechanical properties of these composites has also been summarized.

Composite materials have found widespread applications in the automotive, aerospace, and building industries. Several components are joined together for these applications, by some temporary or permanent bonding approach. The increased use of different materials and their combinations such as composites makes the whole joining process something to be thoroughly considered before continuing. Several aspects need to be studied before spending significant time and financial resources. Considering these challenges in this paper we have provided a review of the investigations that have been made on fiber-reinforced composite joints. The level of development in various types of joints and joining techniques such as mechanical bonding, adhesive bonding, and fusion bonding along with their advantages and disadvantages is given. Several parameters affecting the performance of composite joints such as joint configuration, material selection and properties, geometric parameters, dominating failure modes, and environmental factors are described briefly. To verify the performance of composite joints, guidance on joint testing is given (both destructive and non-destructive).

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of fluorocarbon, hydrocarbon, and hybrid fluorocarbon on the mechanical properties and moisture regain of jute fiber reinforced composite materials. A significant difference in moisture regain values of treated and untreated reinforcement samples was observed, when the concentration of chemical finish (hybrid fluorocarbs) was 40 g/L. The composite made from treated reinforcement regained very low moisture content as well as exhibited improved mechanical properties (tensile and flexural strength). Having both characteristics (hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups) in hybrid fluorocarbon, the treated jute fibers and corresponding composites showed better properties as compared to counterparts treated by other two chemicals, due to better interface.