Production of Bioplastics Using Yam and Plantain Peels and Their Biodegradability Potentials

EasyChair Preprint 10970

Abstract

Plastics offers a variety of benefits, in a variety of shapes, such as sheets, panels, film which can all be flexible as the application requires. However, use of too many plastics results in massive harmful effects. It takes longer time to degrade which is estimated about 500 years to degrade and will become toxic after decomposed. With the ever-increasing demand of plastics in the world and their consequent disastrous effects on environment, a suitable environmentally friendly substitute like biodegradable plastics is presently in need. This study centers on the production of a variety of bioplastic samples from plantain and yam peels with varying amount of the filler and plasticizers. Glycerol and sorbitol have been utilized separately as the plasticizers to increase its flexibility. A total of 5 samples of each of the bio plastics were made using multiple amounts and combinations of the plasticizers, to test the differences in the physical and chemical characteristics (moisture content, absorption of water, biodegradation in soil, tensile strength) of the produced samples due to their different compositions. The differences in the properties of the bioplastic samples produced make them suitable for usage in many different applications. All 10 of the samples produced were synthesized using natural and environmentally safe raw material and showed biodegradation, thus proving to be a good alternative to the conventional plastics.

Keyphrases: Biomaterial, Bioplastics, waste management

@booklet{EasyChair:10970,
  author    = {Kelechi Onyemata and Sani Mohammed and Gloria Ezeagu and Azeez Omotosho and Kabir Mohammed},
  title     = {Production of Bioplastics Using Yam and Plantain Peels and Their Biodegradability Potentials},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 10970},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2023}}