A method for decorticating plant biomass material, the method comprising: a) submerging the plant biomass material in an aqueous-based decortication solution, the submerged plant biomass material being adjacent to one or more catalysts, wherein the one or more catalysts comprises one or more transition metals, wherein, when the one or more catalysts is an iron-based catalyst, the iron-based catalyst is present in an amount between about 2.0 and about 6.0 grams per liter of the decortication solution, b) heating the decortication solution containing the submerged plant biomass material to 85-98°C for a pre-determined incubation period; and c) introducing reactive oxygen species into the decortication solution adjacent to the one or more catalysts during the incubation period, wherein the one or more catalysts interact chemically with the ROS to decorticate the plant biomass material, wherein the ROS is selected from the group consisting of a peroxide, hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, an oxygen ion, a hydroxyl ion, and a hydroxyl radical, wherein the plant biomass material includes bast fibers from the outer bark of plants, wherein decorticating the plant biomass material further comprises separating the fibers from the hurd of the plant biomass material, wherein the method further comprises repeating the submerging, heating, and introducing steps of the method using the fibers separated from the hurd of the plant biomass material until fibers having a desired degree of thickness and coarseness are obtained. a) submerging the plant biomass material in an aqueous-based decortication solution, the submerged plant biomass material being adjacent to one or more catalysts, wherein the one or more catalysts comprises one or more transition metals, wherein, when the one or more catalysts is an iron-based catalyst, the iron-based catalyst is present in an amount between about 2.0 and about 6.0 grams per liter of the decortication solution, b) heating the decortication solution containing the submerged plant biomass material to 85-98°C for a pre-determined incubation period; and c) introducing reactive oxygen species into the decortication solution adjacent to the one or more catalysts during the incubation period, wherein the one or more catalysts interact chemically with the ROS to decorticate the plant biomass material, wherein the ROS is selected from the group consisting of a peroxide, hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, an oxygen ion, a hydroxyl ion, and a hydroxyl radical, wherein the plant biomass material includes bast fibers from the outer bark of plants, wherein decorticating the plant biomass material further comprises separating the fibers from the hurd of the plant biomass material, wherein the method further comprises repeating the submerging, heating, and introducing steps of the method using the fibers separated from the hurd of the plant biomass material until fibers having a desired degree of thickness and coarseness are obtained. wherein the ROS is selected from the group consisting of a peroxide, hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, an oxygen ion, a hydroxyl ion, and a hydroxyl radical, wherein the plant biomass material includes bast fibers from the outer bark of plants, wherein decorticating the plant biomass material further comprises separating the fibers from the hurd of the plant biomass material, wherein the method further comprises repeating the submerging, heating, and introducing steps of the method using the fibers separated from the hurd of the plant biomass material until fibers having a desired degree of thickness and coarseness are obtained.