Physico-Mechanical, Morphological and Thermal Analysis Of Bioplastic Films Fabricated from Sago Pith Waste Cellulose Fibres

Nurul Farhana, Zabidi (2024) Physico-Mechanical, Morphological and Thermal Analysis Of Bioplastic Films Fabricated from Sago Pith Waste Cellulose Fibres. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.

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Abstract

In light of the growing demand for sustainable alternatives to traditional plastics and the world's mounting environmental problems, this research explores the field of bioplastics with an emphasis on sago pith waste (SPW). The growing demand for biodegradable materials makes it essential to utilise resources such as SPW, which are plentiful in biomass, especially from the sago industry in Sarawak. The extraction of sago starch has led to significant environmental issues due to inadequate waste management practices. Therefore, while focusing on utilizing SPW, this research aims to fabricate a bioplastic film from SPW and investigate the optimal mass of cellulose fibres (CF) extracted from SPW solubilized in 20 mL of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) to form a bioplastic film with good properties. First, to extract CF, the SPW underwent alkaline treatment and bleaching treatment. Then, CF was solubilized in TFA, with varying in mass from 0.10 g to 0.70 g. After the CF was fully dissolved, the process was then followed by solvent casting. The resulting bioplastic films produced were transparent with slight brown coloration. The SEM data revealed that bubble-shape protrusions on the bioplastic films appeared to shrink as the mass of CF decrease and a slight decrease in the number of visible pores were noted. Due to the improved morphological properties of the film, the tensile strength of BF-0.70 was enhanced by 90% as compared to BF-0.10. BF-0.70 also exhibited the best thermal stability as the main component of the bioplastic film started to degrade at 193˚C and had the most amount of char residue. Out of all the other films, BF-0.70 also possessed the least water absorption ability, with a value of 86%, which was a good decrease from the 198% water absorption by BF-0.10. Thus, it was possible to determine the suitable CF mass. As evidenced by the features of BF-0.70, the results had proven that 0.70 g is the optimal mass of CF that can be solubilised in TFA to form a bioplastic film with good properties.

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