Physical and Environmental Properties of Thermoplastics Corn Starch TPCS Reinforced Pineapple Leaf Fibre PALF Composite

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study the physical and environmental properties of thermoplastic corn starch (TPCS) reinforced with 2 mm length of pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) bio-composites. Weight percentages of PALF ranging from 20 wt.% to 60 wt.% were used in this investigation. Hot compression moulding technique was used to produce samples of TPCS with different wt.% of PALF at the temperature of 165 °C for the duration of 15 minutes. The physical tests that had been performed were density, moisture content, moisture absorption and water absorption while the environmental tests were water solubility and soil burial testing. The moisture content results showed a decreasing trend by increasing the PALF content. However, moisture absorption and water absorption revealed an increased yield with the increase in PALF content. Meanwhile, density results did not show much change even when the fibre content was raised up to 60 wt.%. In addition, the water solubility results showed an increasing trend as the fibre was increased from 20 wt.% to 60 wt.%. On the other hand, soil burial results revealed vice versa whereby an increasing fibre content caused the weight loss of bio-composites to gradually decrease from 20 wt.% of fibre loading to the maximum of fibre loading. In conclusion, the physical and environmental properties of TPCS/PALF bio-composites obtained from this study can be used to develop biodegradable products such as containers or disposable trays.