Browsing by Author "Aster, Taddele"

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    Synthesis, Process Parameters Optimization and Characterization of Banana Peel Based Bio-plastic
    (Addis Ababa University, 2019) Aster, Taddele; Abubeker, Yimam (PhD)
    In this study, a small scale laboratory bioplastic was synthesized and investigated using banana peel as raw material. The effect of HCL concentrations, concentrations Glycerol, drying temperature and residence time for hydrolysis were analyzed. Design of experiment for response surface methodology (RSM) was used to analyze and optimize the simultaneous effect of HCl concentration (4%, 12%, 20% v/w), Glycerol concentration (4%, 8%, 12% v/w), drying temperature (40⁰C, 50⁰C, 60⁰C) and Residence time of (5, 15, 25 minutes). A four-factor and three-level Box-Behnken design was used to develop a statistical model to describe the relationship between physical and mechanical property of banana peel based bio film and the chosen independent variables and to optimize the production parameters of banana peel based bio-film. The model was statistically significant (p ˂0.0001). A relatively good quality bioplastic with 9.348MPA of tensile strength, 13.523% Elongation at break, 62.883% water absorption and 48.388% biodegradability was synthesized at optimum parameters of 52.424⁰C temperature, HCl concentration of (2.937ml HCl/25g of banana peel), glycerol concentration of (2.096ml of glycerol/25g of banana peel) and 14.50 minutes of residence time for hydrolysis with high value of combined desirability (95.1%). Validation of the statistical model showed an insignificant difference between experimental and model-predicted results. After analyzing the results of the primary synthesized bioplastic, a new modified bioplastics was produced with 27 % improved water/moisture absorption using a Calcium carbonate as filler at the optimum conditions from the earlier experiments.