Thermo-mechanical and morphological characterization of biodegradable composite rod composed of banana waste reinforcement in PLA matrix

The objective of this study is to develop a fully biodegradable composite rod (i.e. Green composite) made from fibers of banana leaf waste reinforced in polylactic acid (matrix) at a different fiber volume ratio (0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%). Rods have been made as per ASTM standard (ASTM D7205) by using single screw extruder. The microstructural characteristics and various mechanical properties have been investigated namely: tensile, flexural and impact testing of composite rod. Results show that pure PLA rod has a maximum strength of 15.82 MPa. In the case of reinforcement, the maximum tensile strength of 28.37 MPa, the flexural strength of 24.67 MPa and impact strength of 3.11 kJ m−2 has been achieved at the fiber volume ratio of 30%. The presence of fibers and the possible failure zones has been analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis proved that the thermal strength and damping effect of the composite is increased by adding the reinforcement.