Extraction of Cellulose Microfibers From Waste Fallen Dried Leaves and Fabrication of a Degradable Composite Film for Packaging Applications.

Cellulose is the most attractive renewable natural polymer, carrying off a 211 billion USD market size that entered the plastic world for industrial application. However, the extraction of cellulose forms (micro/nano) in an economical manner is still challenging for researchers who have been trying different cellulose-based sources and methods. Henceforth, the present study focused on extracting cellulose microfibers (CMFs) from agro biomass to mitigate the cost of satisfying industrial demands. The waste fallen dried leaves were used to extract micro cellulose through alkaline peroxide treatment and studied the essential characteristics like morphology, spectral and crystallinity, and CMFs having 45.8 µm size with rough morphology and the spectral peak of 3339 cm⁻¹, and 2890 cm⁻¹ corresponding to hydrogen bond O–H, and C–H of cellulose respectively. Further, the various % (5–15) of CMFs were reinforced to polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to prepare CMFs/PVA composites through the solution casting method. The experimental results showed that the composites having chemical interaction bond at 3260 cm⁻¹ and 2θ = 19.6^◦ diffraction peak. The optimized % of CMFs showing tensile strength 80.37 MPa and 2.51 GPa and decreased 9.37% elongation at break. CMFs loading significantly enhanced biodegradation by about 21.44%. This improvement in biodegradation highlights the potential environmental benefits of utilizing CMFs in plastic film production. In conclusion, this study provides the idea of economically obtaining micro cellulose and designing biodegradable plastic for packaging application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]