Abstract:
Density measurements are very useful for identification
and characterization of different substances. It is a very important
physical parameter in polymer engineering affecting production cost
and profitability of the manufacturing process. A reduction in density
reduces the raw material cost hence decreases the manufacturing
costs. Therefore, the aim of this research was to study the factors
affecting density of locally made bio-resin from raw banana peels.
The raw banana peels were washed, boiled, pureed and treated with
various ratios of glycerin to obtain a thermoplastic bio-resin. The
effect of temperature, time, resin quantity, glycerin and water on bio-
resin density were studied through use of the central composite
rotatable experimental design and regression analysis. Second order
polynomial regression equation for density was fitted and exhibited
an R 2 value of 83.4%. From the predictive model, it was evident that
to obtain the objective of density minimization, temperature , time,
resin and water ratios needed to be increased up to optimal values.
However, glycerin ratio required to be eliminated from the model
since increase led to increase in density. However, the top five
density alternative solutions presented in this research paper
permitted room for particular glycerin ratios to be maintained. The
developed banana peels resin had a density of 0.83g/cm 3 . This
density value is above that of tapioca as a bio-resin and close to that
of polypropylene as a synthetic resin, both commercially used in bio-
composites development.
