The study of physical & environmental characterization on sago starch

Zulkeflay, Nurul Afiqah (2022) The study of physical & environmental characterization on sago starch. Project Report. Melaka, Malaysia, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka. (Submitted)

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Abstract

The usage of composites is very common in industry. However, there are some drawback issues regarding of the composite materials to the environment. Researchers have discover of using natural resources to counter this issue. One of the natural resources that have been used is sago starch. Sago starch has been widely used for multiple purposes from food industry to manufacturing industry. The properties of sago starch are the crucial criteria for material selection to be used as biodegradable material. In this thesis, the physical and environmental characterization of sago starch are being studied to determined the suitable matrix parameters in different percentage of plasticizers. The sample is fabricated by mixing the sago starch (60 wt.%, 65 wt.%, 70 wt.%, 75 wt.% and 80 wt.%) with glycerol. The mixing is homogenously done by using a blender in the UTeM laboratory. Then, it is poured into the 160mm × 60mm and 140mm × 60mm size of mould and being fabricate by hot compression moulding at 165°C up to 185°C for 8 to 20 minutes at 25 kg/cm2. The thermoplastics sago starch fundamental properties is tested to evaluate their characterization. For physical testing, the sample is tested on density measurement, water absorption and moisture content. Meanwhile, for the environmental testing, the sample undergo soil burial and water solubility testing. Water absorption is done by following ASTM 570, the soil burial testing is following the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) aerobic compost test according to ASTM D6003-96. The other testing are conducted by referring to previous studies by other researchers and according to its honorable procedures. The high moisture content result was contributed by lower thermoplastics sago starch content (60 wt.%) around 11.11% and the low moisture content result was revealed at higher thermoplastics sago starch content (75 wt.%). For density measurement, 60 wt.%. thermoplastics sago starch has the lowest value of density with only 0.08 kg/cm3 difference in reduction with the highest value. The water absorption decreases as the thermoplastics sago starch (%) increases. Only 3.36% water absorption rate at 75 wt.% sago starch content at 0.5 hours. In water solubility testing, it shows that water solubility slightly decreases from 41.43% to 40.64% with the addition 5% of sago starch from 60 wt.%. Meanwhile, all of the samples able to degrade over 50% of initial weight except for 75 wt.% sample where it degrades 48% for soil burial testing. In conclusion, this study provided preliminary information to assist further material research and assess any possible application fields of thermoplastics sago starch. Hence, this material can become an alternative for non-biodegradable bioplastic in the future and optimized the usage of natural resources.

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