Effect of Hevea brasiliensis Sawdust on the properties of thermoplastic starch plasticized by Ethylene Glycol

Thermoplastic starch (TPS) is a bio-based material which can naturally degrade without giving any harmful effect to the environment. However, TPS has drawback which is low water resistance. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to examine the effect of rubberwood sawdust on the characteristic of wood based thermoplastics and its strength by addition of wood particles. Glutaraldehyde modified starch was plasticized by ethylene glycol and mixed with different ratio of starch to sawdust (30:70, 50:50 and 70:30 w/w). The thermoplastic starch samples were tested for their physical and mechanical properties. Scanning election microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, tensile and bending test were used for the characterization and of the samples. The density of TPS decreased as the composition of sawdust increased. Thickness swelling showed that the higher the sawdust ratio to starch, the higher the thickness swelling of the samples. Tensile strength and bending strength test showed that the ratio of sawdust give effects to the TPS. The ratio starch to sawdust 50:50 gave the highest MOE and lowest MOE values. These results indicate that different proportions of sawdust improve the properties of thermoplastic starch.