Improvement in bioplastics

In the near future, it is evident that petroleum will run out. This will increases the prices of
petroleum products. Although about 4 to 5 percent of the total oil is being used in the production
of plastic resins, but the whole world is crying for the disposal of plastic waste. Each year 348
million tons of plastic is produced, half of which is added as waste in the environments mostly in
the seas and rivers where it is the major cause of marine deaths.  Globally, manufactures produce
348 million tons of plastic each year, compared to 1.5 million tons in 1950. Normally plastic
items take 1000 years to degraded totally to landfills, but the plastic bags we use in our daily life
take 40 to 50 years to degrade completely while plastic bottles take 450 years. This concern is in
part translated in the form of market demand for eco-friendly products made of renewable raw
materials. This issue stimulated the demand for harmless and biodegradable materials. From
there evolve the idea of recycling. The focus shifted to the production of plastic from renewable
sources. Bio polymers are special polymers that involve living organisms in its synthesis process,
it can be partially or totally produced from natural renewable materials. They can be extracted
directly form biomass, bu micro organisms or with the precipitation of bio intermediaries. They
can be molded by heat or pressure actions because they contains bio polymers in different
percentages. Plastics that are bio based are replacing plastic made of petroleum due to it has the
same properties as synthetic plastic. The use of synthetic mastic takes a long time to decompose
in nature as discussed earlier. If synthetic plastics are burnt down it releases harmful gases into
atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, methane and carbon monoxide etc. On the
other hand, bio based plastics or starch based plastics do not exist harmful gases. Plants such as
maize, banana, cassava, potatoes, rice etc are rich in starch. Starch is the major carbohydrate in
plant that contains amylopectin and amylose molecules which can improve mechanical
properties. The content of starches derived from cassava plants may be used as bioplastics due to
plenty of availability, high starch content in cassava plant. The addition of concentration of
cassava starch can increase hardness form 31.56 to 67.99shore A, increase density of 1.164 to
1.191 gram per centimeter cube and accelerate the decomposition process (complete
decomposition occurs on the 12th day) is affected by oxygen content in carbohydrates the
amount of cassava starch and moisture absorption. Starch based bioplastic nanocomposites
represent an exciting and promising alternative to conventional plastics owing to their markedly
improved performance in mechanical, thermal, barrier as well as other physical and chemical
properties. Many companies and research institutions have taken a strong interest and invested
heavily in the development of starch based bioplastic nanocomposites. Polymer nanocomposites
are generally known to offer better performance with significant weight reduction and affordable
materials for transport industries such as automotive and aerospace. The first commercial
product of a polymer nanocomposite is the timing belt cover which was made from nylon 6 
nanocomposites by the Toyota Company. The timing belt demonstrated good rigidity and
excellent thermal stability. The timing belt was shown to save up to 25% weight due to the lower
content of nanoclays used. In addition, nylon 6 nanocomposites have been used to fabricate
engine covers, oil reservoir tank and fuel hoses in the automotive industry due to
their remarkable increase in heat distortion temperature (HDT) as well as their enhanced barrier
properties and mechanical properties. Thermoplastic olefin nanocomposite reinforced with as
little as 2.5% clay particles has also been employed by General Motors. In recent years, there has
been increased use of biopolymer nanocomposites by various vehicle manufacturers to make
both external and internal parts such as mirror housings, door handles etc. The weight 
advantage of polymer nanocomposites has a significant impact on environmental protection. 
 Bioplastics made from starch reinforced with clay particles have outstanding barrier properties
that would result in considerable enhancement of shell life for many packaged foodstuffs. These
nanocomposites demonstrate optical transparency in addition to biodegradability which is
impossible to achieve with conventional synthetic polymer composites. Starch based packaging
plastics are odorless, non-toxic and display low permeability to oxygen especially at low relative
humidity. These property advantages make the new generation of nanocomposite bioplastics 
widely acceptable in packaging industries as wrapping films and beverage containers. Bayer
research group played a significant role in developing a new grade of plastic films for food
packaging made from nylon 6 nanocomposites. InnoWare Atlanta, USA, recently successfully
developed starch based food packaging containers with the ability to withstand high temperature,
which is especially important during transport and storage. Therefore, starch based packaging
materials have great potential in providing proper packaging materials for safe, wholesome food 
products which has been the focus of food packaging industry for many years. The classical drug
administration by injection causes the plasma levels to go up and fall drastically when the drug
has been metabolized; leading to a cyclical pattern each time a dose is administered. Therefore,
in classical drug administration, most of the drug plasma levels can be outside the optimal range.
Due to this, the drug permeates throughout the body and is not targeted to the site where it is
specifically required. To overcome this problem, a controlled drug delivery mechanism in 
which the drug is released at a constant, preset rate, preferably close to the specific location is
required. One of the notable approaches is to contain the drug in a polymer membrane, from
which it diffuses out into the tissue in which the membrane is implanted. Duncan and Kapecek
reported that various polymers to which certain drugs were attached could be used to release the
drugs after cleavage of the bonds attaching them to the backbone. Recently, attempts to use
starch based biodegradable plastics have indicated enhanced drug delivery and eliminated the
need for surgical retrieval of the polymeric material after drug administration. The differential
rates of drug release demonstrated by this method of drug delivery may be beneficial in cases
where increased drug dosage is necessary at the beginning of therapy. It is observed that clay
nanoparticles are cost effective and versatile raw materials for starch based nanocomposites due
to their unique layered structure, abundance in nature and wide availability. When clay based
nanoparticles are applied to fabricate starch based bioplastics, enhanced properties
are demonstrated. Moreover, the very low level of clay in the matrix makes the overall density
similar to that of pure polymer. Clay based nanocomposites have found wide use in production
of environment-friendly automotive parts and packaging materials. Their future markets will
further expand from the current automotive and packaging industries to other industries 
such as electro materials, sensors and biomedicine. Other potential applications for starch-based 
nanocomposites for bioplastic materials are also currently being investigated. However, in spite
of the successes achieved in the development of clay-based nanocomposites, their design,
manufacturing and applications are often empirical and their large scale applications are still at 
their infancy stages. The reasons may be due to the limited theoretical knowledge on the novel 
nanostructure materials and the modification of clays for the purpose of targeted bioplastic, the
mechanisms for superior reinforcement as compared to their micro-counterparts and the
establishments of a simple processing structure-property relationship. Further developments of
starch based bioplastic nanocomposites will depend largely on the 
understanding of the above fundamental concepts. Most nanocomposite fabrication methods
have reported nanoparticle agglomeration causing formation of irregularly shaped Nano
structural features within the composite. Noting that enhancement of properties of nano
biocomposites is achieved when clay particles are well dispersed in the polymer matrix,
improved properties of these materials can only be attainable if nanoparticle inclusions are of
uniform size and shape and of very good degree of dispersion. Future research is therefore
expected to address the following issues and challenges:

1) Develop a simple but effective way to modify clay minerals and improve their compatibility
with desirable polymer matrix since dispersion of clay platelets directly affects the final structure
and hence the final properties of bioplastic nanocomposites, design an effective
experimental technique to effectively fabricate nanocomposite.
2) Bioplastics with uniformly dispersed nanoparticles and to establish optimal processing-
structure-property relations to facilitate the design of nanocomposite 
3) Bioplastics for specific applications. It is also proposed that future works should use carbon
nanotubes in the fabrication of nanocomposite bioplastics. 

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