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The alarming use of fossil fuel based plastics causing hazardous environmental impact has drawn attention towards alternative sources. Therefore, the present study aims to utilize Parthenium hysterophorus for the production of bioplastic films and illustrates its biodegradability. A rapid biodegradable bioplastic films were synthesized using cellulose acetate (CA) prepared from Parthenium hysterophorus weed by incorporating different concentrations of polyethylene glycol 600 (PEG600) ranging from 0 to 50% w/v (BP00, BP10, BP20, BP30, BP40 and BP50) as plasticizer. The films were evaluated based on their physicochemical and mechanical properties. The highest tensile strength and Young's modulus of 11.5 ± 0.23 MPa and 170 ± 0.89 MPa, respectively have been observed for the BP10. The highest elongation at break of 9.13 ± 0.12% was exhibited by BP40. The functional groups of the plasticized and unplasticized films were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The bioplastic film BP50 exhibits highest relative crystallinity of 21.27% determined by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). All the bioplastic films exhibit a good thermal stability and shows three degradation stages in Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The bioplastic films are 69.29% biodegradable in natural conditions in 45 days, while 70.29% and 83.57% degradation are observed under composting and laboratory condition, respectively. Hence, the bioplastic films prepared from Parthenium hysterophorus by incorporating PEG600 can be a potential substitute for petroleum based plastics.
Nigam et al. (Wed,) studied this question.