Water Transport Properties of Thermoplastic Cassava Starch/Beeswax Reinforced with Cogon Grass Fiber

Abstract

Starch is a renewable material and has advantage such as low cost, non-toxicity and biodegradable. Unfortunately, starch has limitations to commercial because of highly moisture sensitive and limited mechanical properties. Cogon grass is an aggressive weed but has potential to be used as reinforcement material for producing biodegradable polymer composite. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of cogon grass fibre on the water transport properties of thermoplastic cassava starch/beeswax matrix. The biocomposites were prepared with various cogon grass fiber loading range from 10 to 40 wt.%. The physical properties of TPCS/Beeswax reinforced with cogon grass fiber were evaluated based on the water transport properties of the material. The result show that the moisture content and and water absorption of the sample decrease when the cogon grass fiber loading increase. This finding was accompanied with decrease in the thickness swelling of the samples, indicating better stability. Overall, the finding from the current study demonstrated that TPCS/Beeswax reinforced with cogon grass fiber has shown improvement in characteristic compared to the original material. In conclusion, TPCS/Beeswax reinforced with cogon grass fiber composite are potential alternative material for biodegradable product such as single-use product.