Vol. 10, Special Issue 12 (2021)

Author(s):
Aatif S Khan and Genitha Immanuel

Abstract:
A study on biodegradable sheet: A blend of Corn Starch and Chitosan- An alternative to conventional plastics, was carried out by compression moulding method, incorporating thermoplastic chitosan in thermoplastic Corn Starch matrix, using glycerol, citric acid, and water. Functional properties like Tensile strength, Elongation at break % and biodegradability properties were studied. The sheets were made in two different proportions, T1 and T2 with varying composition of Corn Starch and chitosan. T1 with 60% Corn Starch and 40% Chitosan whereas T2 with 70% Corn Starch and 30% Chitosan. Biodegradable sheets were prepared with average thickness of 1.341 mm. Treatment T1 with higher chitosan percentage showed a better tensile strength of 6.40 MPa as compared to treatment T2 having lesser chitosan percentage of 4.37 MPa. However treatment T2 with higher starch composition resulted in better elongation at break % of 138.06% as compared to Treatment T1 having 119.8 % elongation at break. From the result it can be concluded that the addition of chitosan increase tensile strength while on other side starch provides better elasticity, so cornstarch can be a good biopolymer with another biopolymer chitosan and can be used a biodegradable packaging material. This result was promising and the biodegradable sheet can be used with varied applications for food packaging, holders as trays or partitions and will not harm the environment up to the extent as synthetic packaging material does.