Completion Date
1-2026
Advisor(s)
Not Listed
Abstract
With growing concerns about climate change and plastic pollution, the food packaging industry has shifted towards the development of sustainable food packaging, like biodegradable polymers synthesized from renewable resources. Current sustainable options on the market either have a hidden plastic lining, present oil leaks, or can only be industrially composted under specific conditions. To address these issues, Ecoplasticity targets the industry-wide green initiative through the development of biodegradable and compostable coatings derived from an invasive species of seaweed, sargassum. It is intended to replace the hidden plastic lining, have grease and water barrier properties, and be composted in residential, industrial, or anaerobic compost settings. It will be coated onto a fiber-based substrate that forms the structure of the takeout container using the preexisting industry processes, flexography. Sargassum, an invasive species of brown seaweed, was selected as the renewable source as areas affected by its bloom are spending millions of dollars each year to remove and dispose of it. Recent news has reported that 31 million tons of sargassum are headed towards beaches in the Caribbean and Florida. This bloom has already broken its previous record and is continuing to grow. Sodium alginate (SA) serves as an excellent grease barrier but a poor water barrier. In attempt to improve the latter property, the SA was crosslinked with two types of difunctional crosslinkers. While they both improved the water barrier of the coating, the improvement was negligible compared to industry standards. The non-crosslinked film had a swell ratio of around 5, while the crosslinked films had a swell ratio of around 3.5 in tap water. A swell ratio of less than 1.5 was targeted. Furthermore, TGA results indicate a 15wt% and 20wt% loss under 100°C for crosslinked and uncrosslinked films, respectively. This indicates that the film is not currently microwave safe. To improve the water barrier properties and microwavibility of the coating, sodium alginate will be mixed with various fatty acids and emulsifiers in future work.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/bkendowments/116
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.