Abstract
Packaging material such as plastic bags is one of the main factors that contribute to the environmental pollution due to slow degradation. The usage of metal oxide as pro-oxidant has been proven to accelerate the degradation of these materials, but the excessive usage of this pro-oxidant will be harmful to the human body. Therefore, in this research, spear grass is investigated to be used as natural based pro-oxidant that can increase the degradation rate of the polymers. In terms of that, spear grass is extracted by using pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) to obtain the metal element such as zinc (Zn) and ferum (Fe). PHWE is using water as a solvent which is highly favourable due to non-toxicity and non-flammable characteristics that make it easy to handle. Box-Behnken design is used to optimize the temperature, extraction time, and sample-to-solvent ratio to get the maximum amount of Zn and Fe concentration from the extracted spear grass. As a conclusion, the leaf of spear grass contributed the highest amount of Zn and Fe concentration. The highest amount of Zn and Fe concentration is achieved at 150 °C, 20 minutes, and 3 g of sample to 45 ml of water.
Highlights
From the last decades, the search for solutions to minimize environmental problem due to polymeric materials such as polyethylene has increase necessity when it disposed in an appropriate environment [1]
Spear grass as pro-oxidant will be extracted by using pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE)
For PHWE, 2 g of spear grass was mixed with 20 ml water and the sample was extracted at 150 ◦C for 20 minutes
Summary
The search for solutions to minimize environmental problem due to polymeric materials such as polyethylene has increase necessity when it disposed in an appropriate environment [1]. Several thousand tonnes of goods made from plastic materials are sent to landfill, and increasing the amount of municipal waste [2]. Due to their low degradability, generating pollution and taking space in landfills, plastics accumulate in environment. Roy et al (2007) stated that to produce degradable polyethylene is to mix it with pro-oxidant additives that can effectively improve the degradability of these materials [4]. Imperata cylindrica known as spear grass in Nigeria, alang-alang in Asia, and cogongrass in America In this project, spear grass as pro-oxidant will be extracted by using pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE). Water can dissolve a large range of medium and categorized as low polarity analytes [6,7]
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