Characterization of Biodegradable Films from Raw Seaweed (Kappaphycus Alvarezii) and Glycerol

To reduce the use of plastic, innovation is needed to make packaging materials that are environmentally friendly and easy to be degraded. As the main ingredient of this packaging material should be organic materials that are easily obtained. One of the organic materials is seaweed (Kappaphycus Alvarezii) which can be used as raw material for making biodegradable packaging and combined with glycerol. Biodegradable films with nine combinations of seaweed and glycerol were developed to gain the best composition. The yields of these combinations were tested on their tensile strength, elongation, Modulus Young, Water Vapor Permeability, and biodegradability. The Tensile Strength value of the film with 1 gram seaweed and 1 gram glycerol (S1G1) was the highest (22.366±2.148017 MPa), The elongations values of the films with 1.5 g glycerol and 2 g seaweed (18.99217±2.442663%) were highest significantly. The water vapor permeability (WVP) and the thickness of the composite films increased due to the increase of seaweed and glycerol amounts respectively. The biodegradability increased if the seaweed amounts decreased, but it increased if the glycerol amounts increased as well. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.