The Potential Use of Tacca leontopetaloides as Green Material in Manufacturing Automotive Part

Abstract

The use of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) in making parts of the vehicle such as a weather strip at the door and car window, floor mat, and dashboard is widespread. The commonly being used as in automotive parts manufacturing is styrene based TPE. Styrene based TPE released harmful gas, volatile organic compound (VOC) to the environment when it expose to the high temperature. Therefore, the new material with properties of thermoplastic elastomers is made from Natural rubber blend with localTacca leontopetaloidesstarch and silica extracted from rice husk (as filler). Investigation on the mechanical properties by using Universal Testing Machine (UTM) found that the green material produced has potential to replace the existing floor mat used in automotive production. Indeed, when the starch was plasticized by glycerol and the volume of Natural rubber was varies, the value of tensile strength of green material produced was higher compared with existing floor mat. The VOCs released when its expose to the high temperature was much lower than the existing floor mat used. On top of that,Tacca leontopetaloidesstarchhas potential to create low cost of new green materials in manufacturing of automotive parts.