Novel One-Step Process for the Production of Bioplastic from Rapeseed Press Cake

• Main Authors: Wassim Ammar, Frédéric Delbecq, Isabelle Vroman, Houcine Mhemdi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Processes
• Subjects: rapeseed cake; valorization; plasticizer-free process; protein-based bioplastic; graphene oxide composite
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/9/1498

Crude rapeseed cake was employed as the starting material for the preparation of protein-based bioplastic films through a wet process. A simple exposure of the agricultural waste to formic acid realized at 40 °C for 15 min could afford a slurry ready for producing robust bioplastic films by casting without another plasticizer addition. After determining the optimal process conditions, all films and membranes were successively characterized by DSC and FT-IR spectroscopy. They were also tested for their water absorption capacity, tensile strength, and elongation at break performance. The respective surface morphology and elementary composition of the products were determined by FE-SEM/EDX. Some attempts to improve their intrinsic properties were performed by loading graphene oxide inside the biopolymer three-dimensional matrix.