Assessment of Soil and Fungal Degradability of Thermoplastic Starch Reinforced Natural Fiber Composite
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Assessment of Soil and Fungal Degradability of Thermoplastic Starch Reinforced Natural Fiber Composite Ajaya Kumar Behera1 · Chirasmayee Mohanty1 · Sibun K. Pradhan1 · Nigamananda Das1 Accepted: 19 October 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract High water absorption capacity and low biodegradation of fiber reinforced composites are the major drawbacks, which limit their applications in different sectors. Development of composites with complete biodegradability is challenging as biodegradability may be incomplete by lowering of its water adsorption capacity. In this work, a series of thermoplastic starch (TPS) reinforced jute (10–40 wt%) composites were developed by compression molding and measured by their mechanical properties. The composite with 30% jute showed the maximum tensile strength (27.3 MPa). Contact angle, and water absorption measurements exposed that composites are moderately hydrophobic in nature. Both soil burial and fungal degradation testing showed biodegradability of composites. Characterizations of optimized composite before and after biodegradation test, were carried out by FTIR, SEM and optical microscope. The present study showed promise on feasible applications of jute-starch composites in packaging, automobile sector, cutlery, indoor furnishing, etc. as a substitute of plastic-based composites. Keywords Biodegradable polymer · Natural fiber · Mechanical properties · Biocomposite · Fungal degradation
Introduction Starch, a natural polysaccharide available in different plant resources, is an important substitution for synthetic polymers for various applications. The hydroxyl group of starch can form bond with the functional group of natural fiber [1]. As starch alone cannot meet all the required properties for practical applications, it is often blended with another component like plastics (e.g. polyester) to develop thermoplastic starch (TPS) for wider applications. Blending of starch with a non-biodegradable plastic not only promote the biodegradability of that plastic but also acceptable as a matrix for reinforcement of natural fiber or clay to develop bio-composites [2]. In this regard several researchers have explored the interaction between starch and different natural fibers to develop biocomposites and assessed their properties [2–4]. Starch reinforced composite using different natural fibers such as jute, sisal, and cabuya (0 to 15% w/w) have been developed and the composites with 12% * Ajaya Kumar Behera [email protected] 1
Department of Chemistry, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751004, India
fiber loading showed the highest tensile strength. Further increment in fiber content decreased the tensile strength primarily due to the formation of voids and fiber clumps in the specimens. Wood cellulose fiber was used with starch to develop bio-composites and it showed higher rigidity and tensile strength, but lower elongation at break and poor water penetration stability over cellulosic fiber film
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