Utilization of Corn (Zea mays) Husks as Wallpaper

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

One of the greatest crisis our world's facing is global warming that is mainly caused by the vast production of greenhouse gases from burning waste materials especially cornhusks. They possess favorable properties like fibers that are proven strong, have good pliability and high moisture retention which was found to be essential in wallpaper production. Some consumers preferred to use wallpaper than paint because it has lower economic value and high quality, which leads to the idea of utilizingcornhusks into wallpaper.

METHODS

The corn husks undergone boiling process and was pre-treated with alkali solution to extract the fibers. Mold and used papers were used to shape and dry the product respectively. Multiple methods were conducted to gather data for each property: spring balance for wet and tensile strength, computations and respondents for cost, shelf life, convenience, and ability to be cleaned, and for the folding endurance and abrasion resistivity manual methods were used such as rubbing and folding. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses such as statistical tools (e.g. mean and t-test) were used for testing.

RESULTS

The tests that were conducted shows that the tensile and wet strength is 46.5 N/m2 and 3.58 N/m2 respectively. The folding endurance of the product is 89%. For the cost, it yielded to Php 28.00 and was found to be less economical than the commercial one and the shelf life was indicated in the change of color from dark to slightly dark yellow based on the rating scale. Moreover, the product was damaged after being cleaned, in convenience it just took 1.5 sec. for the product to be pasted. Lastly, for the abrasion resistivity it left 1.18 g of fragments. Some properties of the product indicated significant difference with the commercial product while others did not.

DISCUSSIONS

Though some test results indicated significant difference and while others did not, corn husks can still be used to generate an Eco-friendly wallpaper because of its good quality fibers and availability. The utilization of cornhusk would the production of greenhouse gases. In addition, the farmers and the Agro Industry would have additional income and the landfills needed for paper production would also be diminished. The researchers recommend improving the testing in ability to be cleaned, abrasion resistivity and shelf life to obtain data that are more reliable and to use the freshest possible cornhusks and the most appropriate tools.