Plant Fibres, Their Composites, and Applications

Plant Fibers, their Composites, and Applications provides a systematic and comprehensive account of recent research into plant fibers, including the synthesis of plant fiber reinforced polymer composites, characterization techniques, and a broad spectrum of applications.

Plant fibers have generated great interest among material scientists due to their characteristics, which include availability, low cost, biodegradability, easy processability, excellent thermo-mechanical properties, low acoustic properties. They have been proven to be excellent replacements for synthetic fibers and have found applications in advanced polymer composites.

Coverage includes every stage of working with plant fibers, including synthesis, processing, characterization, applications, recycling, and life cycle assessment of plant fibers and their composites. Drawing on work from leading researchers in industry, academia, government and private research institutions across the globe, this is a definitive one-stop reference for anyone working with plant fibers.

• Addresses emerging applications of plant fiber reinforced polymer composites in automotive, aerospace and construction and building applications
• Provides detailed coverage of the modern processing technologies and synthesis for plant fibers and their composites
• Includes valuable technical information relating to a range of new and nonconventional plant fibers

Prof. Jyotishkumar Parameswaranpillai is currently the Director of AU – Sophisticated Testing and Instrumentation Center, Alliance University, Bengaluru, India, and a Professor at the Department of Science, Alliance University, Bengaluru, India. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the DST INSPIRE Faculty Award from the Government of India and the Best Faculty Awards from KMUTNB, Thailand and Alliance University India.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Suchart Siengchin is a former President of King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok and currently serves as the Director of TechnoPark at the same university. He earned his Dipl.-Ing. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Giessen/Friedberg, Germany in 1999, followed by an M.Sc. in Polymer Technology from the University of Applied Sciences Aalen in 2002, and another M.Sc. in Material Science from Erlangen-Nürnberg University in 2004. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering (Dr.-Ing.) from the Institute for Composite Materials at the University of Kaiserslautern in 2008, including postdoctoral research at Kaiserslautern University and Purdue University's School of Materials Engineering. In 2016, he received his habilitation from Chemnitz University in Saxony, Germany. In 2024, he was honored as an Honorary Fellow by RWTH Aachen University. He has also served as a Lecturer in Production and Material Engineering at the Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering, KMUTNB, and has been a full Professor and President of KMUTNB. He received the Outstanding Researcher Award in 2010, 2012, and 2013 at KMUTNB. His research focuses on Polymer Processing and Composite Materials. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Applied Science and Engineering Progress, a Q1 indexed journal on Scopus, and has authored over 600 peer-reviewed journal articles, 15 editorial contributions, more than 100 book chapters, one authored book, and over 50 edited books. He has presented at more than 70 international and national conferences related to Materials Science and Engineering. Recognized as one of the world’s top 2% scientists by Stanford University for 2021- 2022, he received the National Excellence Researcher Award (Engineering and Research Industry) from Thailand's National Research Council in 2021, and has been listed as a Highly Cited Researcher in 2025 by Clarivate.

Togay Ozbakkaloglu is a Professor at the Ingram School of Engineering of Texas State University, USA. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed research papers in these areas, including over 125 journal articles that appeared in leading disciplinary journals and received over 4000 citations (Scopus). He is Associate Editor for the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering (the foremost structural engineering journal), Heliyon, Frontiers in Built Environment, and Australian Journal of Civil Engineering. He also serves on the Editorial Board of 12 international journals, including the ASCE Journal of Composites for Construction, the leading journal in his immediate research field of structural applications of FRP composites.

Hao Wang is a Professor of materials and manufacturing at the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. He is also the Leader of the USQ Materials Research Program Team, and was previously the Director of the Centre for Future Materials, USQ. He has contributed over 200 journal publications (including Advanced Materials, Macromolecules, Composites Science and Technology, Cement and Concrete Research, etc.) with h-index 54 and citation over 10,000, and delivered over 40 plenary/keynote/invited presentations. He is serving as Editor-in-Chief for Composites Part B: Engineering (the world No 1 journal in composite area with Impact Factor 6.86); Editor for Australian Journal of Mechanical Engineering; and Editorial Board Member for Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials.

Dr. Sanjay Mavinkere Rangappa is a Principal Research Scientist and Associate Professor at King Mongkut 's University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand. He also serves as an Advisor within the President' s Office for University Promotion and Development towards International goals. Dr. Rangappa is the Executive Editor of Book Cluster: Fiber Science and Fibrous Composite Materials ( Elsevier), a former Associate Editor of Heliyon (Materials Science), and an Associate Editor of Frontier Materials Journals. He acts as a Board Member and Editor for various international journals in materials science and composites. He has reviewed over 250 international journals, including for Nature, Elsevier, Springer, and Wiley, as well as book proposals and conference submissions. He has published more than 425 articles in top- tier peer- reviewed journals indexed by SCI/Scopus, 13 editorial issues, 100 book chapters, and 70 books as an Editor with leading publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley. Additionally, he authored 3 books published by Elsevier and has presented research at numerous national and international conferences. Over 25 of his articles are highly cited in journals like the Journal of Cleaner Production and Carbohydrate Polymers. Dr. Rangappa is the lead editor for several special issues and has a Google Scholar citation count exceeding 39, 000, with an H- index of 100 and An i 100- Index of 475. He holds 1 US Patent, 11 UK Design Patents, 1 Thailand Patent, and 5 Indian patents. He has delivered keynote and invited talks globally, including Russia, South Africa, Malaysia, and India. Currently, he is an Academic Visitor at The University of Portsmouth, UK (2024), with upcoming visiting positions at various Malaysian and Indonesian universities from 2024 to 2027. His research focuses on Natural fiber composites, Polymer Composites, and Advanced Material Technology. He received the ‘Top Peer Reviewer 2019’ award from Publons, and the KMUTNB ‘Outstanding Young Researcher’ (2020) and' Outstanding Researcher’ (2021) awards. Recognized as one of the top 1% most- cited scientists by Stanford University (2019-2025), he ranks 5th in Thailand overall and 2nd In the Polymers category for 2023. He is also listed among the ‘Top 100 Scientists’ in Thailand by AD Scientific Index.