Development and characterization of eco-friendly starch-based plastic reinforcing tea for packaging applications

Petrochemical-based plastics are posing a threat to human existence because of their toxic nature and slow biodegradation rate. However, biodegradable plastics manufactured from natural ingredients are showing hope. The current work deals with developing and characterising starch-based bio-plastic where white vinegar and glycerol have been used as matrix materials and tea has been used as filler material. The developed bio-plastic samples were characterized by soil biodegradation test, Mechanical test, Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analyses. More than 60% of degradation occurred within 28 days. The results proved that the bio-plastic synthesized using used tea has higher tensile strength than those synthesized using black tea. Higher melting point and glass transition temperature were also obtained from the sample synthesized using used tea, confirmed by TGA and DSC analysis. The FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of various organic functional groups. The obtained results were compared with the results available in the literature. Based on the results, the developed bio-plastic samples can be successfully used in packaging applications.