Effect of compatibilizer addition in Spirulina platensis based bioplastic production

• Main Authors: Dianursanti, Noviasari, Citra, Windiani, Larasati, Gozan, Misri
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algae; Anhydrides; Biodegradability; Biodegradable materials; Bioplastics; Compatibility; Compatibilizers; Cyanobacteria; Elongation; Maleic anhydride; Mechanical properties; Morphology; Polymers; Polyvinyl alcohol; Proteins; Tensile strength
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/1.5096716

Biodegradable plastics are one of the breakthroughs in the effort to reduce plastic waste. A biodegradable plastic can be produced from microalgae with high protein content, such as Spirulina platensis. Microalgae were mixed with a polymer; polyvinyl alcohol was used in this research to create the bioplastics. Other materials were glycerol as a plasticizer to increase flexibility, and maleic anhydride as a compatibilizer to strengthen the bond between the microalgae and polymer. This research aims to produce biodegradable plastic with mechanical properties similar to conventional plastics, i.e. tensile strength of 26.37 kgf/cm2 and elongation of 55%. This research varied the amount of maleic anhydride, which were 0% wt, 2% wt, 4% wt, and 6% wt. Mechanical properties, i.e. tensile strength and elongation and surface morphology with SEM have been analyzed. Based on the experiment, the excellent compatibilizer composition for bioplastic film is 6% wt, which shows the tensile strength at 28.26 kgf/cm2 and elongation at 59.17%. Surface morphology comparison with SEM shows that bioplastic film with compatibilizer has more uniform surface than without compatibilizer.