The increasing trend of the use of synthetic products may result in an increased level of pollution affecting both the environment and living organisms. Therefore, from the sustainability point of view, natural, renewable and biodegradable materials are urgently needed to replace environmentally harmful synthetic materials. Jute, one of the natural fibers, plays a vital role in developing composite materials that showed potential in a variety of applications such as household, automotive and medical appliances. This paper first reviews the characterization and performance of jute fibers. Subsequently, the main focus is shifted towards research advancements in enhancing physical, mechanical, thermal and tribological properties of the polymeric materials (i.e., synthetic or biobased and thermoplastic or thermoset plastic) reinforced with jute fibers in a variety of forms such as particle, short fiber or woven fabric. It is understood that the physio-mechanical properties of jute-polymer composites largely vary based on the fiber processing and treatment, fiber shape and/or size, fabrication processes, fiber volume fraction, layering sequence within the matrix, interaction of the fiber with the matrix and the matrix materials used. Furthermore, the emerging research on jute fiber, such as nanomaterials from jute, bioplastic packaging, heavy metal absorption, electronics, energy device or medical applications and development of jute fiber composites with 3D printing, is explored. Finally, the key challenges for jute and its derivative products in gaining commercial successes have been highlighted and potential future directions are discussed.

The application of natural fibers is increasing rapidly in the polymer-based composites. This study investigates manufacturing and characterization of polypropylene (PP) based composites reinforced with three different natural fibers: jute, kenaf, and pineapple leaf fiber (PALF). In each case, the fiber weight percentages were varied by 30 wt.%, 35 wt.%, and 40 wt.%. Mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, and impact strengths were determined by following the relevant standards. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was employed to identify the chemical interactions between the fiber and the PP matrix material. Tensile strength and Izod impact strength of the composites significantly increased for all the composites with different fiber contents when compared to the pure PP matrix. The tensile moduli of the composites were compared to the values obtained from two theoretical models based on the modified “rule of mixtures” method. Results from the modelling agreed well with the experimental results. Tensile strength (ranging from 43 to 58 MPa), flexural strength (ranging from 53 to 67 MPa), and impact strength (ranging from 25 to 46 kJ/m²) of the composites significantly increased for all the composites with different fiber contents when compared to the pure PP matrix having tensile strength of 36 MPa, flexural strength of 53 Mpa, and impact strength of 22 kJ/m². Furthermore, an improvement in flexural strength but not highly significant was found for majority of the composites. Overall, PALF-PP displayed better mechanical properties among the composites due to the high tensile strength of PALF. In most of the cases, T₉₈ (degradation temperature at 98% weight loss) of the composite samples was higher (532–544 °C) than that of 100% PP (500 °C) matrix. Fractured surfaces of the composites were observed in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and analyses were made in terms of fiber matrix interaction. This comparison will help the researcher to select any of the natural fiber for fiber-based reinforced composites according to the requirement of the final product.