Fabrication of banana fiber – rice husk reinforced composite for partition boards

Abstract

The escalating environmental impact of synthetic polymer composites highlights the significance of the development of sustainable alternatives derived from renewable resources. Agricultural waste by products such as banana fibers and rice husk are abundant in many tropical and agricultural countries, including Sri Lanka. But they remain vastly underutilized, often contributing to environmental pollution [1]. These agrowastes can be utilized as reinforcements in polymer composites aligns with circular economy principles by reducing waste and mitigating dependence on non-renewable materials [2]. Even though, the existing studies have investigated natural fiber composites, limited research has systematically evaluated the combined effects of banana fiber and rice husk reinforcement in epoxy matrices, exclusively focusing on optimizing volume ratios to achieve balanced mechanical and moisture resistance properties. Addressing this gap, the present study fabricates and characterizes banana fiber–rice husk epoxy reinforced composites across varying volume ratios, targeting applications in sustainable construction materials.