Development of a biocomposite material using sugarcane bagasse and modified starch for packaging purposes

Abstract

Plastic packaging products are popular due to having many superior properties but are harmful to the environment. In that regard, potato starch and sugarcane bagasse fibers were used to develop a composite material by hand layup process. Starch was chemically modified chemically using sodium hydroxide, adipic acid, and mustard oil, according to a previous study. The modification process improved the gelatinization of starch and helped to form a dense and rigid film. The combination was used along with sugarcane bagasse to develop a novel composite material. An increase in fiber loading in the composite resulted in 14.00 J/m impact resistance and 22.85 MPa flexural strength. But adding more than 43% fiber caused decrement in the properties due to fiber accumulation. In contrast, the hardness test showed almost similar results for all samples, resembling polystyrene's hardness properties. However, the density of the composites was found around 0.61 gm/cm3, which is significantly low while the scanning electron microscopy images showed the presence of mechanical interlocking among the components and the composites' porous structure, which also helped to reduce the composites' density significantly. In addition, a meaningfully improved absorbency property was recorded as 73% water absorption after 2 h of immersion was seen in one sample. The thermal test showed similar results to raw sugarcane bagasse but with high char-forming ability in the composite, which can be helpful in flame retarding properties. Meanwhile, comparison with polystyrene and cardboard in terms of density and impact resistance also showed encouraging results.