Effects of composition on mechanical properties and degradability of polyblends plastic polypropylene-Tapioca starch

Abstract

This article discusses the effect of variations in the composition of Tapioca Polypropylene-Star polyblend plastic on its mechanical properties and degradability. The particle size of tapioca starch is made close to nanometers to improve its performance. Reduction of particle size of tapioca starch was carried out using the high energy milling method for 160 hours and obtained 711.1ânm. Comparison of the composition of polypropylene: Tapioca starch made 5 variations with each sample added the same Maleic Anhydride coupling agent. The formation of polyblends was carried out by blending between polypropylene-tapioca starch for 10 minutes, temperature of 1700C in a magnetic mixer stirrer. The measurement results and data analysis showed that mechanical properties including tensile strength, elongation and impact strength increased in value along with the increase in polypropylene concentration. Conversely, an increase in the concentration of polypropylene can reduce the rate of degradability.