Oven-Drying Kinetics and Physical Characterization of Ganyong Starch Biofoam with Various Sizes of Bagasse Filler

Biodegradable foam (biofoam) utilizing waste from natural materials and starch as the base and sugarcane bagasse as the filler represents an innovative alternative for controlling the use of polystyrene (PS), commonly known as styrofoam, which has been identified as the 5th most hazardous waste globally by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Using waste from natural materials and starch as the base necessitates further research to produce biofoam with desirable characteristics that are safe for use in food products. Given the intended function of biofoam as a replacement for styrofoam, various factors influencing its characteristics must be considered. This study aims to examine the drying kinetics of biofoam and the effect of sugarcane bagasse particle size on biofoam characteristics. Three particle size variations were used in this study: mesh 60, 80, and 100. The observed physical characteristics parameters include moisture content, density, compressive strength, biodegradability, water absorption, and solubility. The kinetic analysis performs well in representing the data on biofoam moisture content during drying process, evidenced by an R² value close to 1 and a low RMSE. All physical characteristics parameters of biofoam, except for moisture content, exhibited improvements proportional to the decreasing particle size of the added sugarcane bagasse. The highest values for each parameter were obtained with the mesh 100 variation, with a density of 0.513 g/cm³; compressive strength of 12.81 N/mm²; biodegradability of 60.38 %; water absorption of 54.63 %; and solubility of 58.87 %, while the moisture content for the mesh 100 variation showed the lowest value at 7.86 %. HIGHLIGHTS Cellulose fraction from sugarcane waste can be used as biofoam material. The particle size of sugarcane fiber affects the characteristics of biofoam. The smaller the particle size of the added bagasse, the faster the drying rate. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT