Abstract
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF STARCH-PROTEIN BLEND BIOPLASTICS
Stanley Jade, Culliton David, Jovani-Sancho Jonay, Neves Adriana Cunha* Jovani-Sancho, A. Jonay
ABSTRACT
Scientists are working to find new, greener ways to replace or minimise unsustainable plastics, resulting in a growing global interest in alternative polymers. Agriculture, food processing, biomedical, and electrical industries are among the industries that are beginning to use bioplastics. Bioplastics made from starch and protein polymers have been found to have biodegradable properties, but the majority use non-sustainable starch sources. While bioplastics show biodegradation ability, it's equally important that they are also a sustainable replacement. This study combined many different starches (Potato, Tapioca, Sago and Swamp Taro) with fish gelatine to generate biodegradable bioplastics. These bioplastics were investigated for their colour, roughness, water-solubility, moisture content, transparency, tensile and elongation, hardness, and topography. Results displayed how each starch used to generate a bioplastic produced its unique mechanical data. The starch-protein blend bioplastics made with Sago and Swamp Taro were the most sustainable and showed the most promise for bioplastic production.
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