Study of the incorporation of wood fiber to cassava, rice and potato biodegradable matrices

Published in: Innovation in Education and Inclusion : Proceedings of the 16th LACCEI International Multi-Conference for Engineering, Education and Technology
Date of Conference: July 18-20, 2018
Location of Conference: Lima, Perú
Authors: Sandra Acosta (Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, EC)
Cesar Moreira (Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, EC)
Paola Escalante (Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, EC)
Maria Villavicencio (Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, EC)
Full Paper: #265

Abstract:

The present work is based in a study starting from the behavior and characterization of films made from a 2% total solids (TS) dispersion of easy accessibility raw materials such as, cassava starch (Y), potato (P) and rice (A), combined with a protein i.e. gelatin (G) in a 50:50 ratio; adding guaiacum wood fiber of 75 and 150 µm (Ff and Fg respectively) until 1% (TS). Furthermore, glycerol was incorporated as plasticizer until 30% TS. The biodegradable films were elaborated by casting method. The films were characterized on the following parameters: thickness, water permeability and mechanical properties (Young modulus, tensile stress and elongation). It was found that the films made of AG-Ff and PG-Ff shown better barrier to the water vapor permeability with values of 2.5 and 2.4 (g. mm. KPa-1. h-1.m2 ) respectively. The PG-Ff film showed, also, better mechanical properties i.e. higher Force, Young modulus and tensile stress increasing with time, with the lower elasticity; the YG-Ff and YG-Fg films reported the higher elasticity, being this parameter of interest, we will continue with this formulae to other manufacturing processes.