 5% alkali-treated African tef-straw cellulosic fibre-epoxycompocytes show improved thermal stability and a higher apparent activation energy of 249 kJ per mole, compared to untreated composites, as supported by compositional and XPS analysis, XRD, impact, morphology, crystallinity, thermal characteristics, and degradation behaviour studies. This article was authored by GL Devnani and Shishi Sinha.