The effect of crosslinking agent on protein-based bioplastic from fish waste

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of crosslinking agents on the mechanical and thermal properties of protein-based bioplastic. In this work, Glutaraldehyde (GA) and Glyoxal (GLY) were used at different compositions at 2pph, 4pph, 6pph, and 8pph. GA and GLY were added during bioplastics production using two roll mill. Samples were hot-pressed into dumbbell-shaped for further characterization. Incorporation of crosslinking agents was observed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) while thermal stability was determined using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The FTIR result showed the presence of amide I at peak 1630 cm-1, indicating interactions between the crosslinking agent and polypeptide chains. The tensile properties were investigated by using Universal Testing Machine. It was found that GA has better crosslinking with a tensile strength at 0.2133 MPa compared to the GLY with the tensile strength at 0.1985 MPa at 8pph composition. The crosslinking between the crosslinking agent and protein-based bioplastic affected the thermal stability where GA showed higher thermal stability than GLY at 8pph composition.