Natural fi bers are environmentally friendly materials incorporated into polymer matrices as reinforcement agents. Several

fi bers are available in nature, such as cotton, jute, sisal, bamboo, hemp, banana, coir, and fl ax. However, in some cases,

poor compatibility between fi ber/polymer is observed, limiting their utilization. To overcome this disadvantage, chemical

treatments can be applied to the fi bers to alter their chemical composition, surface morphology, and mechanical properties.

In comparison with other methods, mercerization is a popular methodology largely used to modify the properties of fi bers

once is inexpensive and does not require toxic chemicals. The main modifi cations caused by mercerization regarding chemical

composition are the removal of wax, oils, and impurities of the surface of the fi bers, besides a decrease in lignin and

hemicellulose contents, and an increase in cellulose content. Fiber surface morphology becomes cleaner, and mechanical

parameters, such as tensile strength and rigidity, are generally improved. Although these are some common modifi cations,

mercerization process parameters must be well-adjusted to obtain optimized results. Unlike other published articles, this

review covers the mercerization parameters adopted for several types of natural fi bers to establish a correlation between the

main eff ects of the process on the physical–chemical, morphological, and mechanical properties of the fi bers.