Bioplastic from Agricultural Waste

Wong, Jun Kai (2022) Bioplastic from Agricultural Waste. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Bioplastic are synthesized due to the poor disposal management of plastic waste and the environmental impact by plastic waste. Bioplastic that can be biodegraded by microorganisms are derived from bio-sources such as starch, cellulose and protein. Agricultural wastes have the potential as feedstock to synthesize bioplastic. Making good use of these agricultural wastes can also reduce waste accumulation issues. The objectives of this review are to investigate mechanical, thermal, water absorption and biodegradability properties of bioplastic from agricultural wastes and also the effect of filler and additive on agricultural wastes bioplastic. The bioplastic from pineapple peel with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) exhibited highest tensile strength with 154.90 MPa. Besides, the bioplastic from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and cocoa pod husk also exhibited good tensile strength with 25 MPa and 30 MPa respectively. These bioplastics have the potential to replace the use of polyethylene (PE) with tensile strength of 22.06 MPa. The use of filler and additives such as MCC, chitosan and citric acid improved the mechanical properties of bioplastic. The thermal stability of bioplastic can be increased by adding filler and plasticizer. Cellulose derivatives, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) has the decomposition temperature between 240-410℃ that is higher than starch decomposition temperature, 200-290℃. Cellulose-based bioplastic exhibited better thermal stability than starch-based bioplastic. Addition of plasticizer increased the water absorption capacity of bioplastic. This is because plasticizer has hydrophilic properties, where the hydroxyl groups tend to form interaction with the water molecules. The addition of polyglycerol in rice straw bioplastic shifted the water absorption capacity from 83.85% to 86.87%. The starch-based bioplastic has better biodegradability than cellulose-based and chitosan-based bioplastic because microorganisms tend to biodegrade bioplastic with amorphous phase