INFLUENCE OF PLASTICIZERS AND FILLERS ON THE BIODEGRADATION RATE OF CELLULOSE ACETATE COMPOSITES IN SIMULATED MARINE ENVIRONMENT: ONE YEAR STUDY

Cellulose acetate (CA) is commonly used as a substitute for traditional plastics due to its relatively good biodegradability. The present study illustrates the case of CA-based composite sheets plasticized either with triacetin (TA) or triethyl citrate (TEC) and filled with talc, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), and water-washed distillers' dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Cellulose powder reached the %biodegradation of 95% in 250 days of the experiment, then became constant and reached a maximum %biodegradation of 95.4 % in 379 days. The CA-based composites exhibited varying % biodegradation depending on the types of plasticizer and fillers used. The % biodegradability of TEC plasticized CA (75% CA + 25% TEC) was 78% after 379 days of the experiment and for TA plasticized CA (75% CA + 25% TA) 80% after 379 days. There was no change in the %biodegradability when 20% MCC was added to CA+TA. However, the biodegradability of the composite increased significantly when 20% talc or 20% DDGS were added to CA+TA. The composite of talc reached 96% biodegradability in 379 days while the composites with DDGS reached 91.8 % in 300 days. In conclusion, TA and talc promoted the biodegradability of CA-based composites.