Physical and Mechanical Properties of Biodegradable Pot Derived from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch and Sodium Alginate

Abstract

Efforts to overcome the problem of agroplastic waste (in the form of pots, polybags, and other planting containers) continue to be studied. This research investigated the use of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and sodium alginate in the production process of biodegradable pots. This study also investigated the comprehensive features of biodegradable pots which included physical, mechanical, structural (chemical), and morphological properties. Physical and mechanical characterization showed that the moisture content, specific gravity, water absorption, ultimate tensile strength (UTS), and elongation at break of the examined biodegradable pots increased with increasing sodium alginate content. Biopot-3 with 15% sodium alginate exhibited the highest UTS at 1.29 MPa and elongation at break at 6.77%. FTIR spectra in the 400-4000 cm -1 region showed that all examined biodegradable pots exhibited identical spectra which most of the peaks showed the characteristics of cellulose, hemicellulose, and alginate. While, XRD patterns showed that the biodegradable pot material has an amorphous structure with 2θ angles being 21.69º, 22.01º, HIGHLIGHTS• Oil palm empty fruit bunch is sufficient to be used as reinforcement on the biopot production.• Application of sodium alginate deliver a positive effect on the biopot's mechanical properties.• Properties of the developed biopot indicate the possibility to substitute the plastic pot use.

Characterization of sprayable mulch film from yam nagara starch for agricultural application

“…The biodegradation test was carried out to determine how quickly the mulch film was degraded by microorganisms in an environment [37,38]. The media used is soil because in the soil there are many types of microorganisms (fungi, bacteria and algae) and in large quantities, so that it will support the degradation process that will be carried out.…”