The The properties of banana peel powder filled polycaprolactone composites

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increase interest in biodegradable polymers. They are widely used in packaging, agriculture, medicine and other areas. This work investigates the conversion of banana peel waste as filler in biopolymer which can be alternative materials to synthetic plastics. Polycaprolactone (PCL) based polymers composites were filled with banana peel powder (BPP). BPP/PCL composites were prepared by dissolving PCL pellets and incorporate BPP in 5, 10 and 15 wt% loading. Water absorption and TGA were conducted on the composites samples to recognized its properties. Percentage of water uptake increased with increment of BPP loading. The TGA results showed that the composites were thermally stable with the addition of BPP. Thus BPP/PCL composite is suitable for the lessening of banana peel waste and developing value-added biocomposites materials.