Plastic waste takes up to 450 years to decompose. These problems can be overcome by creating other alternatives, one of which is by using biodegradable plastic. Biodegradable plastics are plastics made from natural polymers that are easily degraded by microorganisms. This study aims to examine the effect of the amount of plasticizer on the length of the degradation process and the effect of using microwaves on the length of time for molding biodegradable plastic. This biodegradable plastic is made by combining durian seed starch, shrimp chitosan and plasticizers in the form of glycerol and polyglycerol with volume variations of 1 mL, 2 mL, 3 mL, 4 mL, and 5 mL. This polymerization was carried out using a microwave with a power of 100 watts for 60 minutes. The resulting biodegradable plastics were characterized using the FTIR test, the Mechanical Properties test, the Absorbency test, and the Biodegradation test to determine the quality of the biodegradable plastic. The results of this study indicate the greatest tensile strength value is 1.9768 MPa, the largest elongation value is 21.2772%, the smallest water absorption is 45.40% for 5 minutes, and the largest degraded mass is 0.908 grams for 7 days. Based on this research, it can be concluded that the use of polyglycerol can accelerate the plastic degradation process. In addition, the use of microwaves can speed up the molding time of biodegradable plastics.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.