Study on the effect of plasticizer (Fructose) on the properties of Glutaraldehyde modified starch

Starch is renewable material obtained from the plant resources such as maize, wheat or potato harvest. Starch is easy to obtain and can be obtained with a low cost. Thermoplastic starch was produced to replace the use of synthetic polymers in order to preserve the environment as thermoplastic starch is safer for environment. The objectives of the research to examine the effect of plasticizer (fructose) addition on the mechanical and physical properties of glutaraldehyde modified starch and to characterize glutaraldehyde modified starch plasticized with fructose. Thermoplastic starch were prepared directly using the corn starch and the addition different amount of plasticizers (fructose) that is 20%, 35% and 50% fructose content. The thermoplastic starch were tested on the moisture content, water absorption, soil degradation, tensile strength , bending strength, thermal analysis, fourier transform infrared analysis and X-Ray diffraction. In the moisture content test, the sample with the lowest plasticizer amount that is 20% fructose content has the lowest moisture content. For the water absorption test, all of the samples disintegrate as thermoplastic starch has low water resistant. Both of the tensile strength test and bending strength test decrease when the fructose content increase. For the thermal analysis, the sample with 35% fructose content has the highest weight loss. For the X-Ray diffraction test, 50% fructose content samples have the highest amount of crystallinity. For fourier transform infrared analysis test, the functional groups that exist in the sample contents such as hydroxyl, alcohol and ketone. Overall, it can be concluded that the amount of plasticizer significantly influence the properties of thermoplastic starch.