We are working on development of biodegradable film for packaging. We want to develop moisture resistant biofilm with enough tensile strength presently whey protein isolate and soya protein isolate have been selected. Kindly suggest new subtance that can be used for making biofilm for packaging.
Dear Dr.Vallabh
Bioplastics today is essentially produced from
or their waste crops (starch, cellulose) or through
bacterial fermentation processes. The major focus has been
the use of starch as raw material, due to its
availability, its history as part of plastics
compostable, and it is economically competitive with oil. corn starch is generally employed, although they are investigating other sources, such as potatoes, barley and oats. Bioplastics made of starch are brittle, and unless the starch is mixed with other materials, or modify it
chemically not used to make flexible and resilient films.
Another raw material that can be used to make bioplastics is the
cellulose. This polymer is the main component of tissues
vegetables, and therefore the most abundant polymer in nature. As the starch is composed of glucose molecules, but together differently, preventing compaction of the fibers firm. So cellulose yields brittle, inflexible and quite permeable to moisture bioplastics. As an alternative, research have turned to development based on chemically modified cellulose, such as cellulose acetate materials. This compound is used to make packaging, as it has good properties for films
flexible and resistant to ruptures and perforations.
The situation is that to lower costs are due to use materials that are agricultural waste, because if they are going to use products that can be used by food has no case, so I recommend alternative crops such as Moringa oleifera and other alternative crops.
Thanks Dear Jaime Cuauhtemoc Negrete for valuable suggestion on biofilm.
I know biodegradable polymers made from milk protein, amid (corn, cassava, potato and others) or fermentation (from amid or sugar, from beet or sugar cane).
IPT (where I work) patented the process of making PHB from sugar cane. The PHB is a biodegradable rigid plastic. This polymer is produced industrially by this method. We are trying to make films from this plastic but it is not possible yet to apply them as a packaging, for example.
The amid based polymers are more common for films. These polymers are fully degradable in months, but they are soluble in water, and you do not want it too.
You ask for a product that does not exist: a real biodegradable plastic film that resists to water! The biodegradable films that are in the Market are blends of common petroleum plastic and a biodegradable plastic that may be water soluble. When discarded, the biodegradable portion of these plastics turns to CO2 but the petroleum plastic is still there as tiny pieces.
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