Comparative analysis of physical and mechanical properties of starch based bioplastic derived from the pulp and peel of potatoes

Abstract

Plastic has become a necessary part of our daily lives; however, considering the harmful effects posed by the readily available petroleum-based plastics there is an increasing trend towards development of bioplastics as an alternative. The present work was carried out to synthesize starch-based bioplastics using potato peel and pulp as source of starch. For a better comparison, the starch from potato peels as well as pulp was extracted by a facile method. These two types of starches were then used to optimize conditions for bioplastic films formation by varying volume of H2O, plasticizer (glycerine) and acetic acid. The bioplastics thus produced were evaluated for their density, opacity, water absorption and water solubility, moisture content, biodegradability and tensile strength. The FTIR spectroscopy, TGA, SEM were also studied. The synthesized biofilms with higher glycerine concentrations (PE-4 and PU-3) were found to be more flexible, more biodegradable, and exhibit smoother SEM morphology. Furthermore, the biofilms derived from potato peel had more strength (tensile strength: 11.6 ± 0.15 MPa, Young's Modulus: 170 ± 0.86) and stability than those derived from potato pulp. The PU-3 derived from pulp starch showed best properties among the pulp starch derived products.