The simultaneous extraction of cellulose fiber and crystal biogenic silica from the same rice husk and evaluation in cellulose-based composite bioplastic films

Abstract

Bioplastics are environmental-friendly materials that have been essentially required to reduce global pollution resulting from the accumulation of conventional plastics. The current study was focused on simultaneous extraction of cellulose fiber and crystal biogenic silica from the same rice husks and preparation of silica-reinforced cellulose-based composite bioplastic films via casting method to evaluate in packaging applications. Herein, ZnCl2 was utilized as a solvent for the extracted cellulose fiber for the first time. As the silica content increased, barrier properties of bioplastic films increased. The highest tensile strength value in bioplastic films was obtained at 1347 kN/m(2) with 2% weight silica content. The biodegradability of bioplastic films in the soil after 21 days varied between 25.5% and 55.7%, which values were significantly higher than conventional plastics. After evaluating these properties, we strongly believe that composite bioplastic films have a high potential to be utilized as green packaging material.