International Journal of Waste Resources

Abstract

Human Hair: A Biodegradable Composite Fiber A Review

Akarsh Verma, V. K. Singh, S. K. Verma and Anshul Sharma

Biological fibers have recently became eye-catching to researchers, engineers and scientists as an alternative reinforcement for FRP (fiber reinforced polymer) composites, due to their low cost, fairly good mechanical properties and high aspect strength. One of the immaculate biological fibers is the human hair. On the whole, three to four tons of human hair fibers are wasted in India annually; hence they pose an environmental challenge. In order to find commercial application the wasted human hair fibre is nowadays finding its use in the field of material science. Human hair is basically a nano-composite biological fiber with well characterized microstructures. Different techniques and technologies have been employed to study the different characteristics of the human hair to prove it a biological composite fiber. The main component of hair is keratin which is tough, insoluble and incredibly strong. An important aspect is that a single strand of hair can withstand the load of 100-150 grams. Hair is elastic and it is capable of regaining its original position on removal of the deformation load. Therefore, the present review paper reports the current scenario of human hair as biological composite fiber and its application in various fields.