EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF MECHANICAL

PROPERTIES OF BIODEGRADABLE POLYMERS

Abstract

Biodegradable composites have become attractive for industrial applications due to

their specific properties and are increasingly seen as an alternative to conventional
materials particularly in the automotive, aerospace and defense industries. The
project work aims to develop a Bio-Plastic Film using Corn Starch and evaluate the
properties with effect of addition of glycerol, vinegar and olive oil. The objective of
this project is to prepare a biodegradable plastic film of corn starch with varying
proportions of glycerol, vinegar and oil to perform test such as tensile strength, water
permeability test, water extraction, SEM and EDAX. The addition of glycerol
increases the toughness and elongation without any compromise in mechanical
properties.

Methodology

Materials:

Corn Starch is the main material used in the composite solution,It was purchased at
a specific amount from E-Commerce sources. The obtained starch were of High
quality and purity.Glycerol-Glycerine which is how its commonly known is also an
active inclusive material which acts as a plasticizer used in the preparation of
composite solution. Vinegar is also used in the preparation to enhance the effect of
glycerol in the solution, Vinegar is also added in order to achieve better film
properties.Olive oil being a lipid additive is also used to enhance the properties.

Film Preparation:

 Film (B) is prepared at first, A corn starch solution with 80g of starch and
200ml of water is prepared
 On constant stirring in a hot water bath to this solution we add specific amount
of glycerol (10ml)
  As the temperature is kept constant and stirring continues we add a specific
amount of Vinegar(10ml) to this solution
 Stirring continues in the hot water bath, After 10 minutes on continuous
stirring it can be observed that the solution turns out to be gelatinized.
 The gelatinized solution is transferred to a tray or a coated glass plate
 The transferred solution which is pasted on to the tray is initially allowed to
cool at room temperature and then allowed to dry under natural sunlight for 72hrs
 In FILM(A) we follow the exact same procedure in preparation ,Corn Starch
solution of 75 g starch and 200 ml water is prepared
 Lipid addition that is olive oil 5ml is introduced in this film and along with the
other plasticizers at 10ml of proportion respectively for glycerol and vinegar
 The gelatinized solution that is obtained here is transferred to a plate for
drying
 The dried films after 72hrs is taken for testing the mechanical and film
properties for analysis

Testing

Tensile Strength:

The tensile strength and elongation at break could be determined using the tensile
testing equipment. Using the tensile testing machine we could determine the
maximum load the given sample could withstand.

Water Vapour Permeability:

Water Vapour Permeability rate is the amount water vapour transmission rate which
passes into the film, The less the water permeability rate the better the film
properties. The film is kept at specific temperatures inside the chamber the change
in weight of the specimen is noted and the water vapour rate is calculated using the
change in weight, thickness and change in atmospheric pressure.

Water Extraction Test:

Water extraction is a test conducted to test for the change in water compostion
inside the sample, The test is carried out by placing the specimen inside an oven
and is heated for a couple of minutes, the sample is removed from the oven and the
change in weight is noted. The change in weight determines the amount water that is
removed out from the specimen.

SEM Test:
SEM test is carried out in order to evaluate the surface properties of the sample, they
are done to study the surface topography, understand the compostion.SEM stand for
Scanning Electron Microscopy, from the expansion it could be understood that the
test is carried out by passing a beam of electrons and image formed in reflection is
the result of SEM test which is carried out.

EDAX:

Energy dispersive X-Ray analysis (EDXA) or energy dispersive X-Ray microanalysis

(EDXMA),The function of EDAX test is to perform analysis on the sample by
understanding the chemical elemental composition.

Results and Discussions :

Tensile Test :

1.The graph provided shows the variation of load with displacement for the sample
which consist of lipid additive. It can be seen that as the load is applied to the
specimen, at first there is a gradual increase in load from 0.002 to 0.004kN,Then at a
displacement of 2.400mm a variation is observed due to deformities by 0.009kN.At
0.015Kn which is the ultimate break load the specimen breaks at maximum
displacement of 7.900mm. Therefore the maximum load that the sample film could
withstand is 15Mpa as per calculations.

2.The graph provided shows the variation of load with displacement, It can be seen
that as the load is applied to the specimen up to 0.004kN,there is no deformation as
soon as the load is increased to 0.005kN, it elongates to maximum displacement of
2.600mm.Therefore the maximum tensile strength the film provides is 5Mpa.Since
the tensile strength obtained by the film is really low it could be said that the film has
lower tensile properties compared to conventional plastics and also the sample corn
starch film with oil.

Comparison between the tensile strength of the sample (A),(B) With existing
plastic films

PLASTIC TENSILE STRENGTH(Mpa)

CORN STARCH 5-15

LDPE 7-25
CORN STARCH WITH OIL FILM 10-20
 HDPE 19-21

TENSILE STRENGTH(MPa)
25
20
15
10
5 TENSILE STRENGTH(Mpa)
0
IM PE ILM PE
FL LD LF HD
H I
RC O
ST
A ITH
W
RN H
CO A RC
ST
RN
CO

Comparison between the tensile strength of the sample (A),(B) With

conventional plastics

Provided is the tensile strength of the samples prepared and commonly available
conventional plastic films such as low density polyethylene and high density
polyethylene, from the graph it can be noted that the sample with the presence of oil
has tensile strength properties which stands between LDPE AND HDPE. The
sample A has the least tensile strength and it could be less applicable in an industrial
application.

WATER EXTRACTION TEST

The samples are observed in water extraction test and the results are noted

Table4.2: Water extraction test results

S no Initial weight in g Final weight in g Weight loss in g

1 1.248 1.011 0.237

2 1.321 1.023 0.298

 1.2
0.8
0.4
0
l Initial weight in g
oi fli
m
th Final weight in g
wi arc
h
m t
fil r n
s
h
rc Co
sta
rn
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Fig: 4.3 : Graphical representation of Water extraction test

4.3 WATER PERMEABILITY TEST

Table 4.3: Comparison between the water permeability of the sample (A),(B)
with existing plastic films

WATER VAPOUR THICKNESS

FILM PERMEABILITY(WVP) (mm)
(x1012 mol mm s−1 Pa−1)
HYDROXYPROPYL 6.45 1.190
METHYLCELLOSE
GLYCEROL 5.85 0.200
MONSTEARATE
WHEAT GLUTEN- 5.08 0.050
GLYCEROL
CORN STARCH WITH OIL 0.0296 0.83

LDPE 0.048 0.025

HDPE 0.012 0.020

BEEWAX 0.010 0.120

CORN STARCH FLIM 0.002628 0.50

ALUMIMIUM FOIL 0.000289 0.035

 WATER VAPOUR PERMEABILITY
6
4
2
0
WATER VAPOUR PERMEABILITY

Comparison between the water permeability of the sample (A),(B) With

existing plastic films

Provided is the water vapour permeability rates of various samples, from the plotted
graph it can be said that the sample A has lower water permeability rates compared
to conventional plastics like LDPE and HDPE, Sample B has very high water
permeability rates and therefore it could be concluded that the Sample A has better
barrier properties.

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE (SEM)

 Fig: Corn starch film with oil

SEM images of Sample A which consist of a lipid additive which is olive oil, The
image shows strong intermolecular forces and the plasticizers included are a reason
for better physical properties. The image also shows the presence of oil and change
in structure is observed in Fig

Fig: 4.8: Corn starch film

The starch film shows the addition of plasticizer has made the film solution to bond
strongly and it is the reason for strong intermolecular forces. The film attains strength
with the help of plasticizer which is also a reason for change in surface properties.

EDAX TEST
1.The EDAX results show percentage composition of various chemical elements that
is present in the Sample, The results show that oxygen is present in a weight
percentage of 84.16% which is meant to be the maximum out of the total
composition, the least weight percentage is by Chlorine of weight 0.93%.

2.The EDAX results show percentage composition of various chemical elements that
is present in the Sample, The results show that oxygen is present in a weight
percentage of 87.64% which is meant to be the maximum out of the total
composition, the least weight percentage is by silicon of weight 0.33%

Conclusion

From the results and analysis it could be concluded that the sample A which
consists of a lipid additive olive oil has tend to show better physical and mechanical
properties compared to the sample B which consists of corn starch and the
plasticizers alone without any additive. The sample A with the lipid additive olive oil
has comparatively equal tensile strength with that of Low Density Polyethylene
(LDPE) and better tensile strength than the Sample B which consists of cornstarch
and plasticizers. The water vapour permeability test results prove that the sample A
has lower water permeability rates than low density polyethylene’s and the sample B
have more water vapour permeability rates which is comparatively less than
Aluminium Foil as per analysis. The casted samples have been tested at Micro Lab
(Ambattur) to evaluate SEM and EDAX. Tensile strength, Water vapour permeability
and water extraction were conducted at MetMech Laboratory .The tests conducted
revealed that Bio-plastic films obtained are having sufficient good properties when
compared to conventional plastics. These plastic films could be used in food
packaging applications as an alternative to conventional plastics as they could solve
problems caused due to plastic degradation. The sample A that is prepared and
tested has equally good properties compared to LDPE by the factors considering
tensile and water vapour permeability.