ABSTRACT

Starting from Agenda 21 sustainable development became a world-wide accepted framework. Within this framework the increase of resource efficiency acquires a great significance. Therefore, it is expected that polymer composites (PC) will have a lion's share in the selection of materials in aerospace, applications, as well as for the means of transport (cars, buses and trains) and in construction purposes. The glass fibres (GF), widely used as reinforcement in PC are associated with high environmental and human health concerns. Therefore, a lot of scientific and engineering effort is required to rediscover the renewable material resources (RMR) as a source of fibres for PC. A lot of work has been already published on the use of fibres extracted from RMR of plant origin, such as flax, hemp, jute, etc. for the reinforcement of PC.

Egypt relies on importation for the satisfaction of its needs of GF. Meanwhile, Egypt , and the whole Arab world, has extensive palm plantations rendering large quantities of products of annual pruning, such as palm midribs, leaflets, spadix stems and coir. These materials are either underutilized or open-field burned at the present time. Previous research work has resulted in successful trials to use palm midribs in several industrial applications. The ongoing research now is directed to set full characterization of these palm materials in terms of their physical and mechanical properties, as well as to extract fibres for the reinforcement of PC. This will decrease the imports of GF, preserve the environment and improve significantly the economic value of palm materials as a source of fibres for the reinforcement of PC.

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