Pineapple Leaf Fiber: From Waste to High-Performance Green Reinforcement for Plastics and Rubbers

Various kinds of plant natural fibers have been studied. Many of these are purposely grown for the fiber while some are derived from agricultural waste. A few types of plant natural fibers have been produced on a commercial scale. With various current problems facing us all today, the needs of plant natural fibers are even greater. There remains some fiber containing agricultural wastes which are underutilized. One of these is pineapple leaf waste. Pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) is known to possess high mechanical properties and can be obtained from pineapple leaf waste using different extraction methods. However, most of these methods are not suitable for large-scale production of the fiber for industrial uses. In addition, PALF produced with these methods is normally large in size, and this limits its applications. Recently, a novel method for the extraction of PALF has been presented. The method allows short and fine PALF to be produced. This PALF has diameter as small as 3 μm and with a cut length of 6 mm, the aspect ratio (length to diameter ratio) could be up to 2000. These characteristics make this PALF very suitable for the effective reinforcement of both plastics and rubbers. It will be demonstrated how to best utilize this PALF. This PALF could be surface treated or used in conjunction with compatibilizer or adhesion promoter as in other cellulose fibers. Recent progress will be presented and potential applications will be reviewed.