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Utilization of rice husk as eco-friendly cellulose acetate-based polymer for plastic bag
Last modified: 2017-06-23
Abstract
Indonesia consumption of plastic bags increases considerably every year. Furthermore, these petroleum-based plastic bags are hardly degraded by nature. On the other hand, agricultural waste such as rice husks are not used efficiently. This paper reports an efficient method of solving both problems. Agricultural waste management can considerably be a vital strategy to conserve and maintain quality of the environment. Cellulose-based polymers will replace petroleum-based polymers usage in plastic bags due to its safety, low production costs, and biodegradability. Method used to produce cellulose acetate-based polymer from rice husk is sulfuric acid–catalyzed acetylation process which done by agitate rice husk with acetic anhydride and glacial acetic acid followed by addition of polyethylene glycol. Then, the produced cellulose acetate which has been tested by FTIR Spectroscopy was tested to determine its biodegradability. The similarity of functional group between cotton linter and rice husk causes rice husk plastic bag’s biodegradability degree is expected to have grade of % weight loss near to cotton linter’s that is 4% in first day and 35% after 14 days. Therefore, this cellulose-based plastic will potentially replace usage of conventional plastic bag, enhancing Indonesian people involvement in improving added value of rice husk, achieving national resilience.