Evaluation of Bioplastic Developed from Corn Starch and Euphorbia antiquorum Latex

Abstract

Traditional plastic materials have a negative environmental impact and one potential strategy to reduce this rising plastic pollution is to use compostable materials like bioplastic. An experiment was conducted at RVS School of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul to synthesize bioplastic from agricultural products like corn starch, latex of Euphorbia antiquorum and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Two sets of blend bioplastic film samples were prepared using solution casting method; Sample A (corn starch + latex of Euphorbia antiquorum) and Sample B (corn starch + latex of Euphorbia antiquorum + PVA). Studies on the degradation properties were carried out by solubility, swelling and soil burial test. The biodegradability of the samples was investigated by soil burial test. Based on this study, the Sample A film without PVA was found to be highly biodegradable as compared to Sample B. The solubility and swelling tests were performed using organic solvents; ammonia, acetic acid, methanol and water. The swelling property of Sample B film showed less percentage of swelling. The solubility test showed that none of the bioplastic samples were completely soluble in any of the organic solvents. Result of this research work indicated that the bioplastic with incorporation of PVA is a better alternative to conventional plastic films.