The use of starch based films as a potential alternative choice to petroleum derived plastics is imperative for environmental waste management. This study presents a new biopolymer (sugar palm starch) for the preparation of biodegradable packaging films using a solution casting technique. The effect of different plasticizer types (glycerol (G), sorbitol (S) and glycerol-sorbitol (GS) combination) with varying concentrations (0, 15, 30 and 45, w/w%) on the tensile, thermal and barrier properties of sugar palm starch (SPS) films was evaluated. Regardless of plasticizer types, the tensile strength of plasticized SPS films decreased, whereas their elongation at break (E%) increased as the plasticizer concentrations were raised. However, the E% for G and GS-plasticized films significantly decreased at a higher plasticizer concentration (45% w/w) due to the anti-plasticization effect of plasticizers. Change in plasticizer concentration showed an insignificant effect on the thermal properties of S-plasticized films. The glass transition temperature of SPS films slightly decreased as the plasticizer concentration increased from 15% to 45%. The plasticized films exhibited increased water vapor permeability values from 4.855 × 10⁻¹⁰ to 8.70 × 10⁻¹⁰ g·m⁻¹·s⁻¹·Pa⁻¹, irrespective of plasticizer types. Overall, the current study manifested that plasticized sugar palm starch can be regarded as a promising biopolymer for biodegradable films.

In the quest for biodegradable and environmentally friendly packaging materials, starch-based films have been considered as a potential alternative to address ecological problems that emerged from the use of nonbiodegradable petroleum-based plastics. Thus, this article presents a new biopolymer (sugar palm starch) for the preparation of biodegradable packaging films using the solution-casting technique. The effects of different plasticizer types (glycerol [G], sorbitol [S], and glycerol-sorbitol [GS] combination) with varying concentrations (0, 15, 30, and 45, w/w %) on the dynamic mechanical properties of sugar palm starch (SPS) films were evaluated. It was observed that the storage (E′) and loss modulus (E″) of the plasticized SPS films decrease as plasticizer concentration increases from 15 to 45%. S-plasticized films showed higher storage modulus (1000 MPa) than G (880 MPa) and GS (920 MPa) plasticized films, irrespective of plasticizer concentration.

Arsenic contaminated water is an environmental issue due to their toxicity. Acute arsenic poisoning has claimed the lives of many and causes adverse health risk to millions of people in several countries such as Bangladesh, India, and China. Effective removal of this contaminant can be obtained by adsorbing them onto low-cost adsorbents. In this study, hydrogel-biochar composite (HBC-RH) was successfully synthesized by embedding rice husk biochar into poly(acrylamide) hydrogel with N.N’-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as crosslinker. The synthesized HBC-RHs were characterized and utilized for the removal of arsenic from wastewater. The experimental parameters that influence the sorption process were investigated. The results obtained revealed that the effective removal of arsenic was found to be dependent on solution pH, sorbent dosage, initial contaminant concentration, and contact time. HBC-RH maximum monolayer sorption capacity for arsenic was 28.32 mg g⁻¹ and the experimental data suggested that the arsenic sorption was best fitted by pseudo-second-order kinetic mode. Above all, HBC-RH can easily be separated from aqueous solution after accomplishing its mission, avoiding separation complications faced by powder adsorbents in aqueous media.

Over the years, cocoa-pod husk (CPH) generation significantly increased due to the growing global demand of chocolate products, since cocoa bean is the main ingredient for chocolate production. Proper utilization of CPH as natural filler for reinforcement of polymer composites provides economic advantages as well as environmental solutions for CPH waste disposal problems. In this study, CPH filled PLA composite films were developed using solution casting method. The effect of CPH loading on the tensile properties of CPH/PLA composite films were investigated. The obtained results manifested that increasing CPH loading from 0% to 10 % significantly increased tensile strength of CPH/PLA composite. However, further addition of CPH loading up to 15 % decreased the tensile strength of film samples. As CPH loading increased from 0% to 15%, tensile modulus of CPH/PLA composite films also increased from 1.5MPa to 10.4MPa, whereas their elongation at break reduced from 190% to 90%. These findings points out CPH as a potential natural filler for reinforcing thermoplastic polymer composites.