Synthesis of Styrofoam Fibers Using Rotary Forcespinning Technique

Abstract

Development of rotary forcespinning (RF) to synthesize fibers has been done. High speed motor driven centrifugal force becomes a major factor in the formation of fibers. RF apparatus consists of three main parts namely the motor system, the collector, and the heating system that serves to regulate the temperature and humidity around the motor. The liquid polymer was poured in the motor holder and rotated at high speed so that the liquid was dropped from the tip of the needle to the collector in the form of fibers. In this study, the liquid polymer was from waste polystyrene foam (styrofoam) soaked in acetone at a certain ratio. The observation was done with the digital microscope up to 1000 times of magnification. The produced styrofoam fibers were similar to homogeneous and smooth cotton with an average fiber diameter in micrometer. The utilization of waste styrofoam into the fibers is expected to reduce the environmental problems caused by waste styrofoam.