ABSTRACT
The uses of plant-derived biomass are seemingly too great to enumerate. Similarly, the term biocomposite may be applied to a staggering range of materials derived wholly or in part from renewable biomass resources. The general limiting view of this subject, as described in this chapter, is to focus on short fiber-reinforced or particulate-filled composites in which the “bio” component of the composite material is the fibrous or particulate embedded in a matrix which may or may not be biobased itself. Thus, the scope of this chapter is limited to biomass alternatives that may be suitable as fillers or reinforcements of matrix composite materials. The general perspective herein is that of fiber/plastic materials formed via melt-blend processing.
