The Development Of Bio-Composite Films From Orange Waste : A Methodological And Evaluation Study Of Material Properties

Abstract: Bioplastic research has become more diverse and different types of research on bioplastic production have been conducted from fruits and vegetable waste, for example, orange waste. The wastes that come from oranges contain more than just vitamins, it has soluble sugars, starch, hemicellulose, cellulose, and pectin. The intention of this project was to study the possibility to produce bio-composite films from orange waste, after removing the soluble sugars. It was also to analyze the properties of the material by tensile strength, visual observation, and to find a methodology that suits this study. An ultrafine grinder was used to mechanically separate the cellulose fibres, with the intention to compare the fibrillation cycles on the properties of the bio-composite films. A total of 30fibrillation cycle was performed. In addition, different film casting strategies were performed and evaluated. The primary plan was to produce a biofilm without the use of chemicals. After the observing the results three new routes for the methodology was developed where the usage of chemicals was be included. The citric acid was used as a solvent for pectin and glycerol was used as a plasticizer. In the first method, different concentration of citric acid and glycerol were added and observed. The combination which gave uniformed films that contained 0.3 g of citric and 0.375 g of glycerol for a 75 ml hydrogel. The second method was to infuse citric acid before grinding the orange waste suspension. Lastly, the third method was to bleach the orange waste before grinding. The films that were produced gave interesting results and from the tensile testing implied that an impact was made on the strength by every fibrillation. The amount of glycerol was consistent throughout the project, but by adding different amount of citric acid gave the films differentIIproperties. The same happened when changing the mould of the film. The best values of the films were from the 30th fibrillation, gave the mean value of 31.6 MPa in tensile strength, and had a strain in elongation at 6.1 %. The tensile strength and elongation had increased drastically compared the fifth fibrillation which had 9.8 MPa and 7.6%.