The Effect of Plasticizer Type and Concentration on Cellulose Acetate-Based Bioplastic from Durian Skin.

Bioplastic is a biodegradable and environmentally friendly material because it uses natural materials in the form of plant fibers. The plants with high fiber content can be converted to cellulose acetate as a raw material for bioplastics. Durian skin is a biomass waste that has the potential to be a raw material for bioplastics. Cellulosebased bioplastics are generally made by adding adhesives, plasticizers, and fillers. In this study, the manufacture of bioplastics used the cellulose acetate from durian skin with variations of plasticizer concentration, plasticizer type, starch adhesive, and chitosan. Glycerol and sorbitol were used as plasticizers with variations in concentration of 20%, 30%, and 40%. The mass ratio of cellulose and starch used was 1.5:1. Bioplastics were produced by adding chitosan, starch, and variations of plasticizers in each concentration which were achieved varying values in tensile strength, water absorption, density values, elongation values, Young's modulus, degradability, and different bioplastic surface structures. The best bioplastic result is bioplastic with 20% sorbitol concentration for a density of 0.852 g/mL, water absorption of 45.99%, tensile strength of 613.12 Kpa, elongation of 2.35%, and Young's modulus of 26090.21 Kpa. In addition, the degradation time without landfill has met the Indonesian National Standard (INS) for 45 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]