Eco-friendly approach utilizing banana peel as a renewable additive for Portland cement

Bio-inspired materials offer an innovative approach to enhancing the performance and sustainability of building materials by leveraging the chemical composition and functionality found in nature. In this study, we extracted banana peel powder (BPP) through wet grinding to develop a renewable biomass additive. The effects of wet grinding time and banana peel powder dosage on the hydration process, mechanical properties, pore structure, economic and environmental benefits of cementitious materials were investigated. Results indicated that BPP, as a biomass additive (up to 0.1%), significantly enhanced both the economic and ecological benefits while optimizing hydration control, mechanical properties, and microstructure of cementitious materials. Although the setting time was prolonged to 2.45 times that of the control, the early and late compressive strengths did not decrease; instead, they increased by 8.8%-15.7%. This phenomenon may be attributed to the bioactive components, pectin and flavonoids, present in banana peels. In addition, incorporating BPP as an additive in cementitious materials can enhance the eco-efficiency of the material by 10.79% and improve cost-effectiveness by 8.81%. This study presents an ecological approach to utilizing banana peels as a renewable additive for construction and building materials, which provides a new idea for the development of sustainable building materials.