A Comparative Study of Bioplastics
Session Number
Project ID: BIO 02
Advisor(s)
Dr. Sowmya Anjur; Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Discipline
Biology
Start Date
19-4-2023 8:50 AM
End Date
19-4-2023 9:05 AM
Abstract
As a promising and fairly new field, bioplastics are a topic of high interest in the scientific community. Mainly due to their significant environmental benefits compared to traditional plastics, many studies have found good reason to research them. The aim of this project was to compare bioplastics of various compositions to each other through an assortment of physical tests. This project also placed an emphasis on the environmentally friendly nature of the materials with which the bioplastics were produced, highlighting their real-world potential to create dramatic change. By producing bioplastics with varying constituents through a simple heating procedure and then comparing their physical properties such as tensile strength, the project provided insight into what specific components are the most important in a bioplastic’s makeup, notably including the potency of seaweed as a natural biopolymer. Seaweed was used as a component of multiple bioplastics, and the physical impacts of its presence in differing amounts were analyzed. In the real world, bioplastics hold incredible potential to revolutionize the plastic industry, and so determining optimal makeup is key. This project was conducted because of the experimenter’s desire to work with biological constructs with real world, large-scale relevance in the current day.
A Comparative Study of Bioplastics
As a promising and fairly new field, bioplastics are a topic of high interest in the scientific community. Mainly due to their significant environmental benefits compared to traditional plastics, many studies have found good reason to research them. The aim of this project was to compare bioplastics of various compositions to each other through an assortment of physical tests. This project also placed an emphasis on the environmentally friendly nature of the materials with which the bioplastics were produced, highlighting their real-world potential to create dramatic change. By producing bioplastics with varying constituents through a simple heating procedure and then comparing their physical properties such as tensile strength, the project provided insight into what specific components are the most important in a bioplastic’s makeup, notably including the potency of seaweed as a natural biopolymer. Seaweed was used as a component of multiple bioplastics, and the physical impacts of its presence in differing amounts were analyzed. In the real world, bioplastics hold incredible potential to revolutionize the plastic industry, and so determining optimal makeup is key. This project was conducted because of the experimenter’s desire to work with biological constructs with real world, large-scale relevance in the current day.