Properties of Sustainable Packaging Paper Fabricated from Banana Fibers Using Banana Peel Lye As a Pulping Delignification Reagent

Figures & data

Figure 1. Chemical pulping of dry banana stem fibers.

Figure 2. Preparation of the packaging paper.

Table 1. KEBS standards for packaging paper testing (Standard specification: KS EAS 859:2017 East African Standard for Paper Bag Packaging).

Property	Test method no	Minimum requirement	Test equipment
Water Absorptiveness	ISO 535	25–30 g/m^2 (Range allowed)	A Cobb testing machine
Bursting Strength	ISO 2758	90 kPa	A Frank bursting strength tester for bursting strength
Tearing Resistance	ISO 1974	320 mN	A TexTest-FX 3750 Elmendorf tester

Table 2. Yield in grams produced by the BPL and NaOH pulping processes.

Pulping process	The original dry weight of the fiber in grams (g) (dw)	Dry pulp yield in grams (g) (DP)	% Yield (%y = dp/dw ´100)
BPL	1000	680	68%
NaOH	1000	560	56%

Table 3. Comparison of water absorptiveness of BPL packaging paper, NaOH packaging paper, and KEBS EAS 859:2017 standard minimum requirement.

Pulping process sample paper	Water absorptiveness (Cobb value)	Water absorption %	KEBS EAS 859:2017 standard maximum requirement
BPL	463g/m^2	293%	30g/m^2
NaOH	205g/m^2	98%

Table 4. Comparison of bursting strength sample of BPL packaging paper, NaOH packaging paper, and KEBS EAS 859:2017 standard minimum requirement.

Pulping process packaging paper	Bursting strength	KEBS EAS 859:2017 standard minimum requirement
BPL	98kPa	90kPa
NaOH	293kPa

Table 5. Comparison of tear resistance sample of BPL packaging paper, NaOH packaging paper, and KEBS EAS 859:2017 standard minimum requirement.

Pulping process sample paper	Tear resistance	KEBS EAS 859:2017 standard minimum requirement
BPL	2252mN	320mN
NaOH	1958mN

Figure 3. Surface morphological structure of (x) BPL paper packaging and (y) NaOH paper packaging samples at magnifications of 100µm.

Figure 4. TGA curve of BPL (EXF) and NaOH (EYF).

Figure 5. FTIR spectra of BPL (EXF) and NaOH (EYF).

Table 6. Transmittance bands of BPL and NaOH packaging paper alongside possible components.

Functional group	Possible assignment	BPL	NaOH	References
O-H stretching (H-bonded)	Water, Cellulose, Hemicellulose and lignin	3306	3306	(Oyewo et al. 2023; Pereira et al. 2014; Yang et al. 2007)
C-H stretching (aromatic)	Cellulose, lignin, carboxylic acids	2888	2888
C=C stretching (ester, aromatic ring, ketone) O-H bending/C=O stretching	Hemicellulose (sometimes lignin). Lignin/water	1617	1637
O-H, in Plane deformation	Cellulose	1325	1314
C-O (stretching vibration)	Lignin, hemicellulose	1033	1028
C-C stretching	Aromatic hydrogen	552	552
C-C stretching	Aromatic hydrogen	427	427

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