Waste potassium based recycle agent preparation and nanofiber production

Abstract

The low potassium content in the foods consumed daily and the absence of potassium in most foods direct people to potassium intake directly through supplementary foods. It is known that large amounts of potassium are present in banana fruit and peel. This study is aimed at utilizing banana peel waste to produce an easy-to-use, thin, lightweight, biocompatible, and innovative nanofibrous material. First of all, waste banana peels were lyophilized with a freeze-dryer device and pulverized with a mixer blender. Next, EDX conducted an elemental analysis of the potassium-containing banana peel powder. Then, PVP-based nanofibers with recycled potassium-containing banana peel powder were produced. PVP solutions containing different concentrations of banana peel powder were prepared under equal conditions, and the solution properties such as conductivity, viscosity, pH, and surface tension were determined. Finally, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the structural properties of PVP-banana peel powder nanofibers, such as fiber diameter, fiber diameter uniformity coefficient, and elemental analysis with EDX to confirm the presence of potassium in the nanofibrous material. It is thought that these nanofiber surfaces, which can be transformed into a highvalue-added product by evaluating the waste food material, will be especially useful for a treatment for supralingual application of potassium.