Studi Biodegradasi Poli Hidroksi Butirat Dalam Media Cair (Biodegradation of Poly Hydroxy Butyrate in Liquid Medium)

Poly hidroxy butyrate (PHB) is a member of bioplastic group. This type of plastic is expected to be alternative plastic which is environmently friendly to replace synthetic plastic that is known to be very difficult to degrade. This research aims to test the biodegradability of commercial PHB in liquid mediums used activated sludge from waste water treatment plant in plastic synthetic factory. Identification of biodegradation process was done by monitoring the changes of PHB characteristics including visual change, surface morphology change, reduction of weight, reduction of crystallinity, and reduction of molecular weight during 15 weeks incubation. The result shows that the damage of PHB sample during biodegradation could be seen visually and liquid medium show the existence of change which can be seen visually and the surface morphology of PHB changed significantly. Weight reduction, crystallinity reduction, and molecular weight reduction revealed of 22.91%, 57.44%, and 29.52% respectively