Abstract
Global population growth has led to an increase in the demand for polymers, along with concerns about environmental pollution caused by solid polymers (such as consumer plastics), as well as the threat of global warming resulting from the production of polymer feedstock. Therefore, the polymer industry must develop sustainable and innovative strategies. The present study focuses on testing the potential of corn starch (CS) to produce bioplastic films and the impact of olive pits powder (OPP) addition, a natural agricultural waste material mainly containing lignocellulose, as filler on their properties. The developed bioplastic films containing starch, plasticizer, crosslinker and different amounts of OPP natural filler were prepared by casting solvent method according to a "green chemistry" process. The chemical, morphological, and thermal characterization of the prepared films was investigated using transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-rays diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The physico-chemical, optical, water and oxygen barrier properties of the developed bioplastic films were evaluated as a function of OPP concentrations. Moreover, attention was paid to evaluate their biodegradability and their antibacterial activity. The addition of OPP from 10 to 70% w/w led to an improvement of oxygen and water barrier properties (contact angle, water adsorption and moisture adsorption) due to specific interactions between starch matrix and lignocellulosic biopolymers present in OPP filler. The soil-biodegradability tests revealed that the control film was totally decomposed and the weight loss of all other films was upper than 70% after only 14days of exposure to soil. Antibacterial tests showed that the developed bioplastic films had an affective activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria strains.
Published Version
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