Application of microalgae in the production of biodegradable polymers

The research was carried out at the research center of Aleksandras Stulginskis University (since 2019, Vytautas Magnus University Agricultural Academy). Two properties of biodegradable film have been studied: Water solubility and Water permeability. For the purpose of film-forming research, milled micro-algae also consist of a mixture of distilled water, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and dried microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris). Water solubility testing shows that in variants from 1.1 to 3.3, solubility is greater when compared to the remaining variants. Specifically, in the first versions (1.1–3.3), lower water content (56 g) and higher glycerol content (7 g) were used to produce films. Meanwhile, in the tests from 4.1 to 6.3, the amount of water was increased to 57.4 grams and the glycerol content was reduced to 5.6 grams. Therefore, it can be stated that the ratio of glycerol to water in the preparation of biodegradable polymer film has a direct effect on its solubility indexes. The water vapor permeability was influenced by the size of the microalgae. After ten days, the smallest change in mass is seen in the second and fifth variants. It is in these variants that the film production process uses a fraction of 0.315 to 0.100 mm microwells. Therefore, in order to make the biocidal film more leak-proof, a fraction of chlorine vulgaris of 0.315 to 0.100 mm should be selected for less water vapor permeability, or further experiments should be developed and experimented with a wider range of fractionsMiškų ir ekologijos fakultetasVytauto Didžiojo universiteta