Fakulti Kejuruteraan Mekanikal, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia.
Fakulti Teknologi Kejuruteraan Mekanikal dan Pembuatan, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2021 Nov 1;190:224-232. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.08.201. Epub 2021 Sep 2.
Cassava starch has acquired many attentions owing to its ability to be developed as thermoplastic cassava starch (TPCS) where it can be obtained in low cost, making it to be one of alternatives to substitute petroleum-based plastic. An attempt was made to investigate the thermal, mechanical and moisture absorption properties of thermoplastic cassava starch blending with beeswax (TPCS-BW) fabricated using hot moulding compression method in the range of beeswax loading from 0, 2.5, 5 to 10 wt%. Addition of beeswax has significantly reduced tensile strength, elongation and flexural strength while improving tensile modulus and flexural modulus until 5 wt% beeswax. Incorporation of 10 wt% beeswax has successfully produced the lowest value of moisture absorption and water solubility among the bio-composite which might be attributed to the beeswax's hydrophobic properties in improving water barrier of the TPCS-BW bio-composite. Furthermore, the addition of beeswax resulted in the appearance of irregular and rough fractured surface. Meanwhile, fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy presented that incorporation of beeswax in the mixture has considerably improve hydrogen bonding of blends indicating good interaction between starch and beeswax. Hence, beeswax with an appropriate loading value able to improve the functional properties of TPCS-BW bio-composite.
木薯淀粉由于能够被开发成热塑性木薯淀粉（TPCS）而受到了广泛关注，因为它可以低成本获得，成为替代石油基塑料的替代品之一。本文尝试采用热压模塑法制备了不同蜂蜡用量（0、2.5、5 和 10wt%）的热塑性木薯淀粉/蜂蜡（TPCS-BW）共混物，研究了其热性能、力学性能和吸湿性能。添加蜂蜡显著降低了拉伸强度、伸长率和弯曲强度，而在 5wt%蜂蜡用量下提高了拉伸模量和弯曲模量。添加 10wt%蜂蜡成功地制备出了生物复合材料中吸水率和溶解度最低的材料，这可能归因于蜂蜡的疏水性提高了 TPCS-BW 生物复合材料的防水性能。此外，添加蜂蜡导致断裂表面出现不规则和粗糙的形态。同时，傅里叶变换红外（FT-IR）光谱表明，蜂蜡的加入显著改善了混合物的氢键，表明淀粉和蜂蜡之间有良好的相互作用。因此，适量的蜂蜡能够提高 TPCS-BW 生物复合材料的功能性能。
