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The concentration of sorbitol on bioplastic cellulose based carrageenan

waste on biodegradability and mechanical properties bioplastic
To cite this article: M D Arief et al 2021 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 679 012013

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The 1st International Conference on Biotechnology and Food Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 679 (2021) 012013 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/679/1/012013

The concentration of sorbitol on bioplastic cellulose based

carrageenan waste on biodegradability and mechanical
properties bioplastic

M D Arief1, A S Mubarak2* and D Y Pujiastuti2

1
Program Study of Fisheries Product Technology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine, Universitas
Airlangga, Kampus C Jalan Mulyorejo, Surabaya 60115 Jawa Timur, Indonesia.
2
Department of Marine, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine, Universitas Airlangga, Kampus C
Jalan Mulyorejo, Surabaya 60115 Jawa Timur, Indonesia.

*Corresponding author: shofy.ua@gmail.com

Abstract. Synthetic plastic waste is the cause of environmental pollution. Therefore,

innovation is needed in the manufacture of plastics using renewable raw materials, namely
bioplastics. Bioplastics can be made from carrageenan industrial waste because they have high
cellulose content. Bioplastics it is necessary to add sorbitol plasticizer to affect the
biodegradability and mechanical properties. This study aimed was to determine the effect of
sorbitol concentration in synthesis bioplastics cellulose-based from carrageenan waste on
biodegradability and too determined the best sorbitol concentration in the bioplastics cellulose
to geet biodegradation standards and mechanical properties. This research is experimental in
biodegradability testing by adding sorbitol (0, 3, 6, 9, 12 mL) to bioplastics and Article study
on the mechanical properties of bioplastics. The experimental study used ANOVA data
analysis and continued with DMRT. The results of this study indicated that the effect of
sorbitol concentration affected the biodegradability of bioplastics (P <0.05) with the highest
value of 58.68 ± 0.90% for seven days at a concentration of 12 mL. Based on the Article
review, the optimum sorbitol concentration in production bioplastics cellulose that gets
biodegradation standards and the mechanical properties of bioplastics was 3 mL

1. Introduction
Synthetic plastic or non-degradable plastic is a cause of waste and triggers for environmental pollution
[1]. Therefore, there needs to be innovation in making plastics using renewable raw materials, by
making bioplastics. Bioplastic is a type of plastic that is almost entirely made of materials that are
easily renewable and can be decomposed by microorganisms The materials that can be used for
making bioplastics is cellulose, it derived from carrageenan waste. In the process of carrageenan
production, waste produced (65-70% of the weight of seaweed) still contains 71.38% cellulose [2].
The high cellulose content in carrageenan waste can be used as a raw material for making bioplastics.
Bioplastics based cellulose have weak hydrogen bonds due to the distance between the tenuous
molecules so it is easily degraded. The weak hydrogen bonds also cause bioplastics to be less strong
and flexible. Therefore, it is necessary to add chitosan for increasing a cellulose adhesive. Chitosan
has a role to reduce the distance between cellulose molecules due to weak hydrogen bonds. The
addition of chitosan causes bioplastics to be fragile, rigid and inelastic, therefore in the process of
making bioplastics it is necessary to have an additional material namely sorbitol

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The 1st International Conference on Biotechnology and Food Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 679 (2021) 012013 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/679/1/012013

Sorbitol can reduce internal hydrogen bonds in intermolecular bonds [3]. The addition of sorbitol is
directly proportional to the percentage of elongation or strain. The greater the concentration of
addition of sorbitol, the greater the value of the percentage of elongation or strain. High sorbitol
concentration also causes a decrease in tensile strength in bioplastics [4]. Sorbitol concentration can
also affect the degradation ability of bioplastics. Increasing the sorbitol concentration will accelerate
the process of bioplastic degradation [5]. Degradation is the ability of biodegradable films to
decompose dependent on availability microbes, moisture and chemical factors present in the soil [5] so
that the addition of sorbitol will affect on the bioplastic is degraded.
This study aimed was to determine the effect of sorbitol concentration in synthesis bioplastics
cellulose-based from carrageenan waste on biodegradability and too determined the best sorbitol
concentration in the bioplastics cellulose to geet biodegradation standards and mechanical properties
based on article review.

2. Materials and methods

The method used in this research was experimental, and article review. Experimental research was
conducted at the Chemical Analysis Laboratory of the Faculty of Fisheries and Maritime, Universitas
Airlangga, Surabaya in February-March 2020 and article review in March-April 2020.

2.1 Bioplastic manufacturing

The process of bioplastics production beginning with the process of separating cellulose in the
carrageenan waste. the waste sample powder was immersed in a 6% H2O2 solution at a ratio of 1:3 (w
/ v), than it was heated for 1 hour at 700C in a water bath shaker. Then the waste sample washing with
water to neutral pH and dried for 2-5 days The cellulose obtained from this process was weighed 50
grams and added 1 gram of chitosan, then given the treatment of the addition of glycerol (0; 3; 6; 9;
and 12 mL) and 2.5 grams CMC for each treatment. The mixture was heated and stirred in 100 mL of
distilled water for 30 minutes at 700C. Then printed on a petri dish with a diameter of 9 cm and dried
in an oven at 600C for 1 hour. The formulation for making bioplastics is in Table 1.

Table 1.Bioplastic Formulation from cellulose-based from carrageenan waste

Treatment
No. Materials Unit
P0 P1 P2 P3 P4
1. Aquades mL 100 100 100 100 100
2. Carrageenan Waste Gram 50 50 50 50 50
3. Sorbitol mL 0 3 6 9 12
4. CMC Gram 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5
5. Chitosan Gram 1 1 1 1 1

2.2 Biodegradation test

The biodegradation test was indicated by the degree of damage to bioplastics. The biodegradation test
is chosen by using the soil as an aid to the degradation process or so-called soil burial test technique
[6]. The sample was placed and planted in a soil-filled pot, the sample was left exposed to air.
formerly, the initial mass of the sample was weighed first as (m0). Following with burial the sample in
the soil for seven days. After seven days buried,the Bioplastic samples t dried and weighed. Then the
re-weighing process is carried out as the value of mL [7]. The percentage average mass reduction from
buried bioplastics is obtained through the following equation:

2.3 Data analysis

The data of biodegradation was tested using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and continued
by Duncan’s Multiple Range Test if treatment significantly affected biodegradation of the sample. The

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The 1st International Conference on Biotechnology and Food Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 679 (2021) 012013 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/679/1/012013

statistical analysis using the IBM SPSS statistics version 23.0 software. The parameters mechanical
properties other that were not possible to obtain due to the existence of a pandemic were conducted an
article review using qualitative descriptive analysis.

3. Results and discussion

3.1 Results
This research produced bioplastics from carrageenan waste cellulose with a diameter of 9 cm (Figure
1). The Analyze of Variance (ANOVA) test showed that the addition of sorbitol concentration (0, 3, 6,
9, 12 mL) significantly affected the biodegradability of bioplastics. Meanwhile, in the DMRT follow-
up test, it was found that bioplastics with the addition of 12 mL sorbitol has the best bioplastic
biodegradation capability, the value is 58.68 ± 0.90% for seven days (Figure 2).

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

Figure 1.Bioplastic Carrageenan Waste Cellulose with Addition of Sorbitol in different concentration
Note: Letter notation (a) sorbitol concentration 0 mL; (b) sorbitol concentration of 3 mL; (c) sorbitol
concentration of 6 mL; (d) sorbitol concentration of 9 mL; (e) sorbitol concentration of 12 mL

\
Figure 2.Comparison Graph of Bioplastic Percentage of Biodegradation with Different Sorbitol
Concentrations. Note: Different superscript letter notations in the same column show comparisons
between treatments are very significant differences (P <0.05).

3.2 Discussion
The results of the analysis show that the concentration of sorbitol on cellulose-based bioplastics from
carrageenan waste significantly affects on biodegradation ability in the bioplastic, so increasing the
sorbitol concentration will greater speed up the process of bioplastic degradation. Based on the results
of this study the degradation of cellulose-based bioplastics from carrageenan waste with the addition
of 12 mL sorbitol obtained the highest value of 58.68 ± 0.90% for seven days. These results of this
research indicate that the degradation time of carrageenan waste cellulose bioplastic with the addition
of sorbitol was faster than the ASTM D-6002 standard, which that the time required to degrade 100%
bioplastics is 60 days [8]. Furthermore, when compared to LDPE and HDPE packets whose
degradation ability in 120 days only reached 75.3% [9]. The carrageenan waste cellulose bioplastic

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The 1st International Conference on Biotechnology and Food Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 679 (2021) 012013 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/679/1/012013

with the addition of sorbitol has a much higher degradation ability because of the fast degradation
time. The addition of plasticizer to cellulose bioplastics can reduce the degree of crystallinity in
cellulose which will result in decreased bioplastic density [10] so that the addition of sorbitol to
bioplastics can accelerate the process of biodegradation [11].
Sorbitol is a hydrophilic material that can bind water. Water is a growing medium for most bacteria
and microbes, so the high water content causes bioplastics to be more easily degraded [12]. Plastic
surfaces that are hydrophilic will make it easier for decomposing bacteria to colonize [13]. The
bacterial colony will stick to the surface of the plastic and form a biofilm, then the bacteria break
down complex polymers into simple ones thus accelerating the degradation process [3]. Furthermore,
according to Sumartono et al. [10], the length of time a material's biodegradation is affected by the
polymer structure contained in a material.
Bioplastics cellulose is easily degraded because they contain hydroxyl (OH) and carbonyl (CO)
groups [14]. According to Pratomo and Rohaeti [15], the process of biodegradation occurs because of
the bond breaking reaction in the β-1,4-glycosidic bond so that the cellulose molecule decomposes
back into glucose molecules gradually. Chemical degradation reactions in linear polymers give arise a
decrease in molecular weight or make shorter of chain length [16]. The addition of sorbitol to
bioplastic manufacturing can also affect the mechanical properties of bioplastics such as per cent
elongation, tensile strength, and water resistance.
Tensile Strength is the maximum tensile strength that a plastic sheet can withstand during
measurement. Tensile strength values indicate the tensile strength of plastics produced when under
load [17]. The resulting bioplastics are not fragile, this is because the addition of sorbitol as a
plasticizer serves to reduce intermolecular forces and increase film flexibility and weaken the polymer
chain hydrogen bonds [18] so that it can affect the tensile strength of bioplastics.
Research on the effect of sorbitol on bioplastic manufacturing has been carried out several times. In
the research of Hidayati et al. [5] using nata de cassava and sorbitol showed tensile strength values on
the addition of 0 mL sorbitol that was 62.22 MPa, 3 mL sorbitol was 35.28 MPa, 6 mL sorbitol was
16.66 MPa, 9 mL sorbitol was 11, 76 MPa, the results of the study indicate that the addition of sorbitol
3 mL in bioplastic manufacturing has produced tensile strength under SNI standards of packaging
materials which range from 24.7-302 MPa [19].
According to Putra et al. [20] the higher the concentration of sorbitol used in making bioplastics,
the lower the tensile strength value of bioplastics produced. Sorbitol can reduce the molecular internal
hydrogen bonds and cause the intermolecular pull of adjacent polymer chains to reduce the tensile
strength [21]. Sorbitol is a hydrophilic material (capable of binding water) and can make the bioplastic
surface-soft which causes a reduction in strength between adjacent molecules so that the tensile
strength is lower [22].
The addition of sorbitol to bioplastic manufacturing also influences cellulose will reduce
intermolecular interactions and increase polymer mobility [23]. Increasing the concentration of
plasticizer in this case sorbitol will reduce hydrogen bonds to increase flexibility so that the tensile
strength decreases [24]. According to research Hidayati et al. [25], the addition of chitosan and CMC
in bioplastic production also affects the tensile strength value, CMC concentration > 3.5% and
chitosan > 3.5% can reduce the tensile strength of biodegradable films, this is caused by the formation
of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between NH4 + from chitosan and OH- from CMC. The addition of
sorbitol to bioplastic manufacturing can also affect the per cent elongation in bioplastics.
Percent of elongation is the amount of length increase caused by the load pulling at the time of
breaking up. The addition of plasticizers can affect the percentage of elongation because plasticizers
can cause bonds to be reduced so that the plastic is more elastic [26]. Cellulose in seaweed itself has
high flexibility so that it affects the per cent elongation because the addition of plasticizer gives more
elastic properties to the plastic [27].
The effect of sorbitol addition on bioplastics in several studies has been conducted to determine on
per cent elongation. The results of Sitompul et al. [28] in making bioplastics with the addition of 3 mL
sorbitol, bioplastics have an elongation per cent of 44.65%. The elongation of bioplastic with sorbitol

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The 1st International Conference on Biotechnology and Food Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 679 (2021) 012013 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/679/1/012013

additional in this study is in under SNI standard packaging materials with an elongation per cent value
of 21-220% [20]. According to Afif et al. [12], sorbitol will disrupt hydrogen bonds between adjacent
polymer molecules so that the tensile strength of polymer chain intermolecular is reduced, causing
bioplastics to become more elastic. The mechanism of sorbitol insertion between amylose-
amylopectin-chitosan molecules is presented in Figure 3

Figure 3. The hydrogen Interaction between Starch-Chitosan-Sorbitol [12]

The increased sorbitol concentration in bioplastics also affects the water resistance. The bioplastic's
resistance to water is determined by the swelling test that is the percentage of plastic condensation by
the presence of water [29]. In the study of Afif et al. [12], the addition of sorbitol 1 mL, 2 mL, 3 mL,
and 4 mL in the making of bioplastics resulted in a bloating result of 71.04%; 73.78%; 87.39%; and
88.03%, this shows that the addition of sorbitol influences on the per cent of distension so that the
greater the sorbitol added, the greater the per cent of distension in bioplastics. The increase in per cent
distension is due to the increased concentration of sorbitol because sorbitol has hydrophilic properties
[5]. Sorbitol has many -OH groups so that it can attach to water by hydrogen interactions which
created an increase in water absorption in bioplastics.
Based on the results of the study, the degradation of cellulose bioplastics from waste making
carrageenan with the addition of 12 mL sorbitol gets the highest value of 58.68 ± 0.90% for seven
days. Based on the previous studies used the Article review on the mechanical properties of bioplastic
based cellulose with the addition of sorbitol, it is well known that the concentration of 3 mL sorbitol
can meet the SNI mechanical properties standards especially the elongation per cent 21 -220%, tensile
strength value of 24.7-302 MPa, and 99% hydrophobicity [19].

4. Conclusion
The concentration of sorbitol on cellulose-based bioplastics from carrageenan waste effects on
biodegradation ability in the bioplastic. The highest degradation rates of bioplastic were at addition
sorbitol concentrations of 12 mL with degradation rates 58.68 ± 0.90% for seven days. Based on the
article review, sorbitol concentration 3 mL has resulted in higher of the ability of biodegradation and
mechanical properties

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6. Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Faculty of Fisheries and Marine, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia for
the facility.