Abstract
Every year large quantities of peanut shells are disposed of due to a lack of uses for these materials. The current research focuses on utilizing fibers from peanut shells for use in non-woven fabrics. This required creating a method of obtaining fibers from the shells, which was not highly time intensive. Once fibers were obtained they were characterized and formed into nonwoven fabrics via wet laid web formation and latex bonding, although other methods of web formation and bonding were attempted. The fibers were determined to be weak yet stiff, in comparison with other textile fibers. The resulting fabrics were evaluated for strength, light transmittance, and water resistance, to determine their suitability as erosion control fabrics. The results were compared to those for commercial erosion control fabrics. The peanut fiber fabrics had some similar properties to the commercial fabrics, which indicate that these fabrics may be suitable for this purpose.