Crosslinkable vegetable oil based natural materials for packaging applications

Biodegradable plastics are gaining popularity in recent years with landfill site becoming increasingly scarce. Combustion of plastics during disposal contributes to air pollution, and low practicality in plastic recycling is the main issue associated with non-degradable plastic usage. Biodegradable plastics can be a promising solution to these problems caused by common non-degradable packaging materials. In this project, the synthesis of castor oil and citric acid polyester was carried out to produce a biodegradable polymer film for packaging applications. Castor oil and citric acid been selected as raw materials due to its high versatility and potential in undergoing esterification reaction, leading to the formation of hydrolysable ester bonds, followed by the addition of resorcinol, 1,10 decandiol and 1,12 dodecandiol as a linker to adjust the polymer film mechanical and degradation properties.Bachelor of Engineering (Materials Engineering