Environmentally Friendly Bioplastic Films Based on Avocado Seeds Starch and Nanocellulose Fibers

Abstract

In recent years, plastic waste has been a major cause of environmental pollution, negatively affecting human health and the ecosystem. Therefore, the trend of using bioplastics to replace fossil-based plastics has been becoming important and popular. This study aimed to successfully prepare a starch-based bioplastic film. Starch was extracted from avocado seeds using wet soaking method. The mechanical properties of bioplastic film were enhanced by reinforcing with nanocellulose fibers (CNFs) with using glycerol as a plasticizer. The results from the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that the surface of the bioplastic film was affected by the content of used CNFs. The micro size aggregations occurred when too much CNFs was added to the starch matrix. The Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results presented peaks at wavenumbers corresponding to vibrations of hydroxyl, methyl, carboxyl and ether groups, which were characteristic peaks for the chemical structure of starch and CNFs. The crystallinity of bioplastic films tends to increase when CNFs was added to the starch matrix. The mechanical properties analysis of bioplastic films showed that CNFs were dispersed well in bioplastic films leading to the enhanced mechanical properties of the films.