ICCS18 - 18th International Conference on Composite Structures, Lisbon, Portekiz, 15 - 18 Haziran 2015, ss.197
Banana is one of the earliest and important fruit crops cultivated by man in Mediterranean zone. Banana is distributed in more than 120 countries, over an area of 48 lakh hectares. Banana farming generated huge quantities of biomass all of which goes as waste due to non-availability of suitable technology for its commercial utilization.
Normally this biomass is used for animal feed and fuel. Banana fiber is a lignocellulose based fibre and it has excellent sound absorption and mechanical properties. Therefore it is used in composites as reinforcement material in automotive industry.
After cultivation of banana fruits, tons of banana fiber waste are remained from banana trees in Turkey.
In this study, Banana fibres were treated with 99% formic acid by using conventional (15, 20, 30 minutes, 600C) and microwave energy (1, 3 and 5 minutes) methods. Elongation (%), tensile strength (MPa) and weight loss (%) properties of treated banana fibers were investigated.