Influence of cellulose fibers extracted from pineapple (Ananas comosus) leaf to the mechanical properties of rigid polyurethane foam

Abstract The influence of cellulose fibers extracted from pineapple (Ananas comosus) leaf fibers on polyurethane foam’s mechanical properties (PUF) is reported. The PUFs were reinforced with different weight ratios (1, 3, and 5 wt%) of cellulose fibers. The surface morphology of the extracted cellulose fibers was determined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The functional groups and vibrational modes of the reinforced PUFs were measured using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The influence of cellulose fibers to the density and mechanical property of the PUFs were also investigated using universal testing Machine (UTM). Experimental results showed the absence of hemicellulose, lignin, and other soluble materials present in the pineapple leaves after alkaline treatment, suggesting high-quality cellulose fibers. Likewise, FTIR spectra revealed the presence of typical urethane linkages of PUFs suggesting the successful formation of PUFs with a varied amount of cellulose fibers. The mechanical properties of the PUFs with an increasing amount of cellulose fibers exhibit a decrease of the compressive strength of the fabricated PUFs may be due to the lack of cross-linking between the cellulose fibers and PUFs that will influence the reactivity in the system that eventually affects the polyurethane foam density expansion.