Bioplastics based on waste paper cellulose, glycerol, and chitosan: the evaluation of mechanical properties

Abstract Bioplastics are an alternative to conventional plastics to overcome environmental problems due to the accumulation of plastic waste. Cellulose is one of the materials that can be used as reinforcement for natural polymer-based bioplastics. One material that has a very high cellulose content is waste paper. This study was conducted to make bioplastics based on waste paper cellulose, glycerol, and chitosan. The mass of waste paper cellulose was the variable that varied in this study. The parameters of mechanical properties evaluated in this study include tensile strength, elongation, degradation rate, and water absorption. The results showed that increasing the mass of added cellulose increased the tensile strength value of bioplastics but decreased the elongation value. The results also show that increasing cellulose mass can reduce the water absorption of bioplastics produced. The sample with the highest tensile strength value is the addition of 3 grams of waste paper cellulose, with a tensile strength value of 1.99 MPa and an elongation of 4.4%.