Comprehensive characterization and utilization of microcrystalline cellulose extracted from waste palm fruit: a biomass to biomaterial for cementitious composites

In recent times, due to non-renewable resources, construction operations have resulted in significant quantity reductions. Millions of hazardous mineral wastes are produced as a result, and there are also significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. To overcome the drawbacks of the existing methodologies, an innovative approach is introduced in this study which is based on the renewable materials which results in low environmental impact and cost. In recent times, the cellulosic materials have been utilized in the concrete technology. Since MCC has the hydrophilic character and water retention capability properties, it can be utilized in cement-based materials which is crucial for the construction. This article describes the use of naturally derived renewable microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) from palm fruit (PF) to reinforce cement. The physical, thermal, chemical, and mechanical properties of PF-MCC are analyzed. The functional groups peaks of PF-MCC are studied from FTIR analysis; XRD analysis reported the crystallinity index and crystalline size to be about 72.13% and 29.6 nm. The higher absorbance is seen at 354 nm by the UV analysis, and the thermal degradation at three stages is resulted from TGA analysis, and the peak is found at \(327.27^\circ{\rm C}\). From the EDX analysis, the oxygen and carbon dominate the composition, constituting of about 45.3% and 26.7%, respectively. The addition of the PF-MCC with the M30 grade cement concrete as fillers resulted in a better compressive strength by 10.4% and tensile strength by 9.3%. Thus PF-MCC results in superior characteristics which can be utilized as the eco-filler in the construction industry.