MANUFACTURE OF POLYMER PELLET FROM BLENDING OF TAPIOCA STARCH/HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (HDPE) USING SIMPLE EXTRUSION MACHINE

• Main Author: Pradipta, Rangga
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Teknik, prosedur, alat, perlengkapan, materi
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/37911
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Plastic production is currently increasing due to consumers need of plastic products. In 2018, the total production of plastic in Indonesia reached 4.6 million tons. From the total amount of plastics produced, 13% of them are produced from high density polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE is a type of synthetic polymer made from polyethylene monomers. HDPE has high mechanical properties, high crystallinity, high abrasion resistance and high chemical resistance, but HDPE have disadvantages which are nonbiodegradable and petroleum based. Waste data in 2018 showed that the waste produced from synthetic plastic products reached 3.2 million tons, therefore HDPE plastic needs to be blended with natural polymers, one example is by blending with bioplastic tapioca starch to improve biodegradation properties. In this research, High density polyethylene (HDPE) was mixed with tapioca starch using a simple extrusion machine. The optimal method to produce a blend was studied for blending of tapioca starch / HDPE using hydrolyzed and unhydrolyzed starch, as well as making blending filaments using standard extrusion methods and modified dual barrel extrusion methods. From the results, a method of making Tapioca Starch/HDPE polymer blending was obtained by using modified dual barrel extrusion method. Furthermore, the weight percent of starch is varied to 10%, 20% and 30% (HDPE/Pati 10, HDPE/Pati 20 and HDPE/Pati 30). From the results of thermal testing, it was found that the highest glass transition temperature value was obtained in sample HDPE/Pati 30, which was equal to -20.08oC. The highest tensile strength of HDPE / Tapioca starch polymer blending was obtained in sample HDPE/Pati 10 with 9 minutes of holding time, which was 19,3883 MPa. From biodegradation test using soil as media, the highest weight reduction was obtained in sample HDPE/Pati 30, which was 0.2907%. This research has the potential to solve challenges faced by industry to make plastics that have superior properties and biodegradable.