Fabrication and characterization of potato starch-based bioplastics plasticized with glycero

Abstract

Plastics have varied application and have become an essential part of our daily lives. The production, use, and disposal of plastics emerged as a persistent and potential environmental nuisance. Bioplastic products are manufactured to be biodegradable with similar functionality to that of conventional plastics, which has the potential to reduce the dependence on petrochemicals based plastics and related environmental problems. In this research, starch-based bioplastics were made by blending potato starch with various glycerol concentrations from 10 to 40%. The resulting bioplastics were characterized for their mechanical properties: tensile strength and elongation at break, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), water absorption, and biodegradability. Results showed that maximum value of tensile strength was obtained at value of 8.12 MPa with glycerol concentration of 10%. The highest elongation percentage was obtained as much of 45.35% with the addition of 40% glycerol. The increase of glycerol concentration decreased the tensile strengths while the elongation percentage was enhanced. Biodegradability test found that bioplastic could be completely degraded.