Investigation of natural cellulosic fibers from banana for potential reinforcement in polymer composites

This investigation discusses the extraction and characterization of banana fiber from pseudostems of the Nendran and Grand Naine banana variety, with a special focus on the latter’s potential to act as a sustainable reinforcement in green composites. The Nendran pseudostem fiber exhibited fine linear density with 14.50 tex, excellent breaking load with a value of 327.33 g, and tenacity of 22.92 g/tex. The result of chemical analysis of Nendran fibers is an amount of 59.22% cellulose, and it can also be used in high-performance applications. It shows the existence of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin due to the crystallinity index being 20.33%, which proves improved mechanical properties. A maximum degradation temperature at 370.94 °C has verified its thermal stability, which can also aptly suit applications that require heat resistance. This study’s philosophy is to encourage the utilization of banana fiber as a biodegradable reinforcement for replacing synthetic reinforcements of industries such as automotive, aerospace, and textiles.