THE EFFECT OF CHITOSAN ADDITION ON ECO-FRIENDLY PLASTIC BASED ON PLAPCL

Abstract

Research on making eco-friendly plastic has been developed because it is environmentally friendly and renewable. In this research, the manufacture of eco-friendly plastic from Polylactic Acid ( PLA) and Polycaprolactone ( PCL) with the addition of chitosan as a filler . The purpose of this study was to study and determine the effect of mixing variations in chitosan composition PLA on PCL the mechanical properties of eco-friendly plastics using a hot press at 200⁰C for 1 hour. The variations of PLA/ PCL are 2/8 g, 3/7 g, 5/5 g, 7/3 g and 8/2 g while the composition of chitosan is 0,2 g, 0,3 g, 0,4 g, 0,5 gand 0,6 g. The characteristics of eco-friendly plastics can be seen from the biodegradation test, tensile strength test, elongation test, functional group test and plastic film morphology test. The results of the characterization of eco-friendly plastics with optimal performance were the composition PLA/PCLChitosan 8/2/0.6 gram yielded 38.8% for the biodegradation test, the tensile strength value was 42.53 MPa, the elongation percentage was 6.96%. While the functional groups contained are the N – H, C – H, C = O and C – O groups. The results of the identification of the functional groups show that no new functional groups are formed, but only a mixing process without any reaction on the constituent materials. Based on the morphological test results showed that the sample has a smooth surface. However, there is still insoluble chitosan because the mixing process is not homogeneous.