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Table of Contest
3........................................................Aims of the project
4……...........................................................Introduction
5.……...........................................Bio-Plastic Production
6.…………...............................................Data & Results
7……..………................................................Conclusion
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Aims of the Project
1- To clean our environment
2- To protect our atmosphere
3- To reduce the usage of natural fuels
4- To make fast decomposable materials
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Introduction
Plastics are more useful than metals, papers, and other materials because of
their properties such as lightness, cheapness and durability. Therefore, they
have been being used in almost every industrial field.
Worldwide, more than 300 million tons of plastic were consumed in 2015. The
whole world, even the oceans, is full of plastic wastes. In addition, the
plastic industry has some disadvantages related to economic and environmental
problems.
The first disadvantage related to the environment is the shrinking of the landfill
capacity because of the increasing of the plastic waste amount in the landfill
areas. Increasing of the plastic waste leads to a
crisis in the landfill due to the rising costs and strong legislation. On the other
hand, oceans are also full of plastic wastes.
The damaging of the marine ecosystem is the second disadvantage. The third
disadvantage is that the waste management options are inadequate. Recycling
proportion of plastics is very low. On the other hand, toxic
emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane are generated because of plastic
incineration. These greenhouse gases (GHGs) affect the worldwide climate
change negatively. Plastic’s non-degradability or
durability is the fourth disadvantage. It was known that plastics are not
biodegradable and it can remain in the environment for hundreds of
years. In addition, it is expected that fossil fuel will become more expensive and
the supply will become more volatile. The economic problem is the increasing
fossil fuel prices.
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Potato Bio-Plastic Production
Potatoes were cleaned up and peeled for further studies. Potato is than grated
and grinded with kitchen stone grinder. We use the liquid that get out of potato. In
few minutes starch will form at the bottom. We rinse the starch with more water.
We pour the water out then place starch in the oven to get a white powder.
Then we add additives such as: hydrochloric acid as well as glycerol. Than we
place it on Bunsen burner and than we will get jelly like substance. The final
stage is just to dry it on room temperature in oven. It can take up to 10 hours.
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Data and Results
Microstructure of bioplastics showed the incomplete gelatinization with the
increase of starch: glycerol ratio indicated by the visible inhomogeneous
granules. FTIR spectra exhibited that the intermolecular interaction in bioplastics
occurred through C-O-H, O-H, C-H aliphatic and C=O groups. Mechanical
properties evaluation showed that bioplastic with 3.5:1 (starch:glycerol) ratio
exhibited the highest tensile strength of 2.57 MPa with the lowest elongation of
6.27%. Bioplastic with 3.5:1 (starch:glycerol) ratio also showed the highest
density and contact angle of 1.66 g cm–3 and 50.1°, respectively. The fastest
enzymatic degradation showed by the highest microbial growth was presented by
bioplastic with 3.5:1 (starch:glycerol) ratio as well.
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Conclusion
Since many countries around the World are struggling with food shortages,
producing bioplastics from wastes instead of foods is the best way to go. This
study concluded that food wastes could be used for bioplastic production. In this
study, it was determined that the bioplastics produced from potato peels
completely biodegraded within 3 to 6 months, and it was suggested that these
bioplastics can be used in packaging industry. The development of mechanical
properties should be investigated for the utilization of it in different industrial
areas. On the other hand, it was observed that the commercial bioplastic did not
biodegrade in 3 to 6 months. Bioplastics usage has increased in recent years.
Therefore, for the sustainability of those called as ‘biodegradable’, the standards
should be developed.
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