Development of Biodegradable Thermosetting Plastic Using Dialdehyde Pineapple Stem Starch.

Starch extracted from pineapple stem waste underwent an environmentally friendly modification process characterized by low-energy consumption. This process resulted in the creation of dialdehyde pineapple stem starch featuring varying aldehyde contents ranging from 10% to 90%. Leveraging these dialdehyde starches, thermosetting plastics were meticulously developed by incorporating glycerol as a plasticizer. Concurrently, unmodified pineapple stem starch was employed as a control to produce thermoplastic material under identical conditions. The objective of streamlining the processing steps was pursued by adopting a direct hot compression molding technique. This enabled the transformation of starch powders into plastic sheets without the need for water-based gelatinization. Consequently, the dialdehyde starch-based thermosetting plastics exhibited exceptional mechanical properties, boasting a modulus within the range of 1862 MPa to 2000 MPa and a strength of 15 MPa to 42 MPa. Notably, their stretchability remained relatively modest, spanning from 0.8% to 2.4%. Comparatively, these properties significantly outperformed the thermoplastic counterpart derived from unmodified starch. Tailoring the mechanical performance of the thermosetting plastics was achieved by manipulating the glycerol content, ranging from 30% to 50%. Phase morphologies of the thermoset starch unveiled a uniformly distributed microstructure without any observable starch particles. This stood in contrast to the heterogeneous structure exhibited by the thermoplastic derived from unmodified starch. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated the absence of a crystalline structure within the thermosets, likely attributed to the establishment of a crosslinked structure. The resultant network formation in the thermosets directly correlated with enhanced water resistance. Remarkably, the thermosetting starch originating from pineapple stem starch demonstrated continued biodegradability following a soil burial test, albeit at a notably slower rate when compared to its thermoplastic counterpart. These findings hold the potential to pave the way for the utilization of starch-based products, thereby replacing non-biodegradable petroleum-based materials and contributing to the creation of more enduring and sustainable commodities.

Efficient method of starch functionalization to bis-quaternary structure unit.

This paper presents the synthesis of bis-quaternary starch by innocuous reagents. For this, starch was functionalized to di-aldehyde structure by periodate oxidation. Aldehyde is reactive and amenable to further derivatization to amine structure. It was functionalized to amine via the modified Leuckart-Wallach reaction. Then, the aminated starch was modified to the quaternary form by the exhaustive methylation. The structural characterization of synthesized compounds was performed using titrimetric analytical estimation, FTIR, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, and SEM-EDX. Analytical results showed 58.8% aldehyde content in di-aldehyde starch. The synthesized quaternary derivatives with gemini like structure showed high degree of quaternization 62%. In conclusion, the applied protocol is efficient and revealed high extent of modification with almost good uniformity from the characterization studies.