Abstract:
Tuning the properties of a biodegradable or compostable packaging material so that it is an appropriate and cost effective replacement of conventional petroleum based plastics is a quest and a research challenge for the present day community of the materials scientists. The fulfillment and realization of this mission will not only avert us from shifting problems of today onto the shoulders of future generations but in fact keep our children safe from the time bombs of plastics being developed in the form of landfills.
Starch has been claimed to be appropriate replacement of raw materials of conventional petroleum based plastics, however, only a few successful industrial applications have been realized so far due to its some inherent flaws like thermal and mechanical properties, chemical stability etc.
To this aim, current study focuses on the reinforcement of starch with hexagonal boron nitride to overcome its drawbacks/flaws and making it fit for biodegradable packaging applications. Boron nitride is made up of boron (B) and nitrogen (N). A series of samples with different weight percentages of reinforcement were developed and compared them with virgin starch. In addition to nanocomposites, micro-composites of starch were also synthesized using hexagonal boron nitride micro-powder as filler for comparison with nanocomposites, while employing same methodology. The characterization of synthesized composite and nanocomposites were carried out using FTIR, XRD, SEM, TGA and other traditional experimental techniques. The results have revealed that the packaging related properties of starch have been drastically enhanced.
