Study of The Effect of Plasticizer (Triethanolamine) on The Properties of Glutaraldehyde Modified Starch

Thermoplastic starch (TPS) is the biodegradable plastic and it is compatible with the environment. TPS is a renewable material and can be incorporated into soil as an organic. TPS now get highly demand for variety of application. This research studies the effect of plasticizer (triethanolamine) on the physical such as density, moisture content, water absorption and biodegradability, and mechanical properties of glutaraldehyde modified starch and to characterize glutaraldehyde modified starch plasticizer with triethanolamine using tensile, bending, FTIR, TGA and XRD. The density of the TPS sample increase when the percentage of TEA decreases. The moisture content of TPS sample depend on the higher the percentage of TEA, the higher the moisture content in TPS sample. TPS sample with 20% of TEA showed the highest density, 1.379g1cm3 and TPS sample with 50% of TEA has the highest moisture content. The glass transition temperatures of the plasticized sample also decreased with increased plasticizer content, irrespective of the plasticizer type. The crystallinity decreased with increasing plasticizer content. The increase of plasticizer concentration resulted in a decrease of tensile strength, but increased elongation at break of the samples. Samples plasticized with 20% of TEA showed the highest tensile strength 27.464N/mm2 and tensile modulus 2377.168N/mm2. Hydroxyl group from TEA has been found around peak 3264.10cm-1 for 20% of TEA, 3284.72cm-I for 35% of TEA and 3278.20cm-1 for 50% of TEA. Overall, it can be concluded that the plasticizer concentration significantly influence the properties of TPS samples.