Development of fiberboard from polystyrene foam recycling - Pineapple leaf fiber composites

Abstract

The aim of this research is to develop the fiberboard composite, which was formed from recycled polystyrene foam and pineapple leaf fiber. The green essential oil as D-limonene was used as a solvent for recycling polystyrene foam by dissolving to reach the green-material research. The weight ratio of the pineapple leaf fiber and D-limonene solvent of 6:10 was used for matrix solution. The pineapple leaf fiber with a controlled diameter in a range of 0.037-0.72mm was prepared in length of 30mm. The weight levels of fiber ratio were varied as 0%, 16.67%, 25%, and 50% couple with a matrix. The composite specimens were formed and tested to evaluate their properties including tensile properties, modulus of elasticity, elongation at break, water absorption, and surface topography. The results show that composite with 50% fiber reinforces of pineapple have maximum tensile strength and modulus of elasticity while its loses properties of in term of elongation at break and water absorption. However, the set of test information, fiberboard could be formed in various polystyrene foam: pineapple leaf fiber ratio depends on the expected property for each application.