Advancements in fibre-reinforced polymers: Properties, applications (A mini review)

Abstract

Fibre-reinforced polymers (FRPs) are truly the next generation of composite materials. FRPs are materials that include all the advantages of polymers: lightweight, fully resistant to corrosion, and flexible in design. However, they also have the inherent strength of fibres embedded within them. This mini-review was conducted to address the growing need for innovative, lightweight, and sustainable materials by evaluating recent advancements in FRP technology and their potential to overcome current engineering challenges. This mini-review highlights the properties that have made fibre-reinforced polymers well-suited to many industries-from the automotive and aerospace sectors to construction or marine. Among high ratio of strength to weight, engineered mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance, these are some of the features being discussed with respect to recent developments in the design of materials. Applications of FRPs in sustainable practices, using natural fibre and agro-waste reinforcements, are covered to demonstrate their outlook in minimizing environmental footprints. These are followed by challenges to scale FRP applications and improve the performance of end products such as fire resistance or recycling. The paper closes with a summary of the critical point that indeed fibre-reinforced polymers will be crucial for developing current and future engineering requirements in very lightweight, sustainable, and/or high-performance material systems.