PLASTIK RAMAH LINGKUNGAN DARI POLIKAPROLAKTON DAN PATI TAPIOKA DENGAN PENAMBAHAN REFINED BLEACHED AND DEODORIZED PALM OIL (RBDPO) SEBAGAI PEMLASTIS ALAMI

Abstract

The environment friendly plastic from polycaprolactone (PCL) and tapioca starch has been synthesized by using palm oil as natural plasticizer. Objective of this research is to determine the influence of palm oil addition and composition of PCL and tapioca starch toward the polyblend product properties. In order to meet the research objective, the PCL was synthesized from caprolactone and 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol. The synthesized PCL and tapioca starch were blended physically at various compositions. The mixture was then added with palm oil. Results of the research indicated that PCL can be obtained and its molecular structure is determined by NMR-¹H, NMR-¹³C, and FTIR. Based on the XRD diffractogram, palm oil can reduce the polyblend crystallinity. The obtained polyblend viscosity lowered with the increasing amount of tapioca starch.