Valorisation of cattail (Typha) biomass: Fibre extraction, properties, and applications in sustainable material systems

The cattail plant ( Typha spp.) is a low-cost, renewable, and multifunctional natural fibre resource with strong potential for sustainable and circular material systems. This review explores the extraction methods, properties, and application potential of cattail fibres. Fibre origin and the extraction route are key factors affecting fibre microstructure and performance. Mechanical extraction typically yields fibres with high variability, whereas optimized alkali, enzymatic, and hybrid treatments substantially enhance fibre quality. Consequently, reported tensile strengths for leaf and stem fibres span from below 100 MPa in untreated form to values exceeding 1000 MPa under optimized processing conditions. On a specific property basis, optimized cattail leaf/stem fibres perform competitively compared to conventional fibres, albeit with greater variability. In composites, cattail fibres act as effective lightweight reinforcements, offering improved mechanical performance, energy absorption, and damping. Cattail seed fibres, despite limited tensile capacity, exhibit exceptional bulk resilience and hydrophobicity, enabling insulation, cushioning, filtration, and oil-sorption applications. Overall, cattail fibres emerge as versatile materials whose performance is governed by method-property relationships, supporting their potential as next-generation sustainable materials.