Ginger peel waste cellulose, mimosa cinerea fiber: light weight application with sustainable PLA composites

Abstract Mimosa cinerea natural fiber (NFR), ginger waste filler (WF) was incorporated into a Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) matrix to enhance tensile strength (TS), reduce thickness swelling (TSW) property in a corrosive state. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) of WF revealed a 110 plane at 15.8° and a 200 plane at 22.6°, the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) identified peaks at 1085 cm − 1 and 1520 cm − 1 , confirming high cellulose content in treated WF. In the compression moulded PLA composites, TS increased from 47.55 to 55.71 MPa as NFR content rose from 15 to 25 wt% with a constant 5 wt% WF. Improved hydrogen bonding among hydroxyl groups in NFR and WF contributed to this enhancement. The better combination of NFR (25 wt%), WF (5 wt%), NaOH Surface treatment (ST) (9 wt%), fiber length (LF) (1 cm), and 190 °C, attained TS of 58.4 MPa, 22.1% higher than neat PLA matrix. The WF addition reduced voids between NFR and PLA, lowering TSW in corrosive environments. Surface treatment up to 9 wt% produced a cellulose-rich, rough surface that improved PLA-NFR interaction, enhancing compatibility and increasing both TSW and TS. The better results were identified with NFR (15 wt%), WF (5 wt%), ST (3 wt%), LF (3 cm), and 190 °C for minimizing TSW in the hybrid PLA composite with 0.3% under corrosive conditions.