Impact of Starch Concentration on Chlorella-k-Carrageenan Gel Formation Mechanism

Abstract

Despite their industrial popularity, plastics; specifically in packaging, have been known for their harmful environmental impact. In this work, as an alternative to plastic packaging, microalgae, and starch-based materials were employed. Here, gel formation mechanisms were investigated by using photometric analyses, namely photon transmission and absorbing techniques. Heating (gel-sol) and cooling (sol-gel) experiments were performed, and absorbance (A), transmittance (T), and Arrhenius plots were generated to observe the behavior of the mentioned materials during phase transition processes. The heating and cooling experiments revealed that the addition of starch quickened the gel-sol transitions but slowed down the sol-gel transitions. Hence, the results suggested that the sample containing _Chlorella, k-Carrageenan_, and starch was the most promising potential alternative for plastic packaging.