Abstract:
There is an increasing demand for biodegradable bioplastics, which can replace petroleum-based non-degradable plastics, which have a great impact on the environment. Starch-based biodegradable films are thermally unstable and are not mechanically strong enough due to the lack of fillers. The goal of this research is to synthesize and characterize biodegradable film from mango seed kernel starch reinforced with micro-pottery clay. In this research, the main factors are glycerol and pottery clay with reference to starch. The film was developed based on the experimental design with clay to starch ratio (0, 5, 7 and 10 % w/w) and glycerol to starch ratio (0, 25, 30 and 35 % v/w). The effects of glycerol and pottery clay on the films' overall properties individually as well as interactively were observed. Results have shown that the film which has maximum tensile strength, thermal stability and high melting point was obtained at 25%w/v of glycerol concentration and 5%w/w of micro-pottery clay content, which has a maximum tensile strength of 7.66±0.012 Mpa. It was observed that the addition of glycerol and pottery clay significantly affects the physicomechanical and thermal properties of films (p<0.05). Films degradation capacities were analyzed based on the ASTM D5988-03a method using soil burial testing. Based on the result obtained maximum biodegradation rate was found to be 74.38±0.012 at 35% of glycerol concentration.