Biodegradation Study of Polyblends between Polystyrene-Lignin Using Activated Sludge

• Main Author: (NIM 10503014), HOWARDSETYAMUKTI
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/12218
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Plastic usage has spread widely across many aspects of human life. The massive scale of plastic usage gives rise to concerns toward the effect of plastic product's waste on the environment. These concerns are related to the fact that plastic products are not readily biodegradable. Therefore several researches had been conducted in order to create an environmentally friendly plastics. The experiment in this research is focused on the analysis of biodegradability of polyblends between polystyrene-lignin acquired from previous research. Biodegradability test was conducted using activated sludge obtained from Life Sciences Laboratory (Laboratorium Hayati), PAU ITB. Polymer samples were incubated for 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 days. The resulting samples were then analyzed using percent weight loss, structural analysis (FTIR), surface analysis (SEM), and crystallinity analysis (XRD). Percent weight loss analysis does not show significant weight loss which indicates that the samples were difficult to be decomposed by microorganisms in the activated sludge. This result is supported by functional groups, crystallinity and surface morphology analysis.