The effect of banana starch concentration on the properties ofchitosan-starch bioplastics

The use of plastic films has been increasing due to their versatility and wide range of applications. They have been used mainly for wrapping and packaging. However, they are not easily degraded thus increasing the environmental problem. Bioplastics have been developed to substitute the petroleum based plastics. In this research, chitosan based bioplastics were made by blending chitosan with various banana starch concentrations from 10 to 30%. The bioplastics were prepared using casting method with the addition of 30% glycerol as the plasticizer. The resulting bioplastics were characterised for their mechanical properties, swelling behavior, and biodegradability. The increase of starch concentration decreased the tensile strengths while the elongation percentage, swelling, and biodegradability were enhanced. The incorporation of starch into chitosan based bioplastics reduced the film brittleness and in overall improved the desirable properties