Green Emulsion Paint: Utilization of Waste Expanded Polystyrene and Rice Husk for a Sustainable Future

Abstract

An emulsion paint was formulated from waste to-go boxes and rice husk as binder. A three-staged process was employed to formulate  the emulsion paint. Physicochemical properties such as opacity, pH, flexibility, adhesion, tackiness, resistance to blistering, chemical  resistance and drying times were carried out on the formulated emulsion paint. A reference emulsion paint was also formulated using a conventional binder composed of polyvinyl acetate (PVA) thus, the aforementioned physicochemical properties were compared to  ascertain for the suitability of the polystyrene-rice husk (PS-RH) binder. The formulated PS-RH and PVA paints were applied on different  substrates; wood, glass, wall and ceiling board to ascertain for their drying times (dry-to-touch and dry-to-hard). It was observed that the  formulated emulsion paints displayed shorter surface drying times in the range of 16 to 25 minutes for PVA and 18 to 34 minutes for PS- RH across all applied surfaces. These observed drying times were comparable to SON standards for dry-to-touch of 20 minutes. The  formulated PS-RH emulsion paint exhibited good adhesion, opacity, flexibility, tackiness, resistance to blistering, chemical resistance and drying times when compared to the conventional PVA binder paint and standards stipulated by the standard organization of Nigeria  (SON). Results so far obtained from this study suggested that the formulated emulsion paint derived from waste to-go boxes and rice  husk exhibited likened properties of a conventional binder and can serve as a viable alternative binder when employed.