Study on characterization of thin film based on Glutaraldehyde modified starch with plasticizer (Ethylene Glycol)

This study summarized the research on the production of thermoplastic starch film (TPS) by using corn starch as it is a renewable material. TPS was chosen to replace synthetic polymers in order to avoid environmental issues occurred. The use of biodegradable polymer like TPS can reduce the environmental impact which easy to decompose. However, starch need to be combined with other materials with high performance of synthetic polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in order to improves mechanical properties. The objectives of this study were to examine the effect of different concentration of plasticizers (ethylene glycol) on the thin film based on glutaraldehyde (GLA) modified starch and study the effect of PVA additive on thin film. Cross linked corn starch with GLA was plasticized by different concentration (20% w/w and 50% w/w) of ethylene glycol (EG) with and without the presence of PVA. The resulted thin film were characterized for its physical and mechanical properties. The TPS were tested on moisture content, water absorption, biodegradability, tensile test, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The amount of moisture content increased at high percentage of plasticizer with the presence of PVA while water absorption increased as the percentage of plasticizers increased without PVA. The highest concentration of EG affected the biodegradability properties of TPS however the presence of PVA will slower down the degradation process. The 20% (w/w) with addition of PVA has the highest tensile strength which is 4.74 N/mm2 and lowest extension at break at 4.70 mm. The functional group consists of hydroxyl and alkane group. Thus, the study can be conclude that-different concentration of plasticizers and the presence of PVA affected the thin film properties.