Preparation of Biodegradable Plastic Film from Sorghum bicolor (L.) Corn Starch

Abstract

Today's challenge is to produce a biodegradable materials for packing which can partially replace traditional plastic materials. Starch-based biodegradable plastics are less harmful to the environment and breakdown faster than regular plastics. The goal of this research was to produce and characterize a biodegradable film(BF) made from Sorghum bicolor (L.) starch and glycerol plasticizer. The produced film contained two amounts of Sorghum bicolor (L.) starch (5 g and 10 g) and three percentages of glycerol (25%, 30%, and 40%). The Sorghum bicolor (L.) and biodegradable glycerol-based plastic film had the lowest density, water absorption, and thickness swelling of 0.99 g cm-3, 55.72%, and 10.72%, respectively. The tensile strength is maximum at 9.97 MPa and and elongation obtained is 23.84%. The Sorghum bicolor (L.) starch and glycerol-based biodegradable film decomposed by 69.23% after biodegradability testing of one week.