Advancing Sustainable Materials: Low-Cost Biodegradable Plates from Agro-Industrial Waste and Non-Toxic Additives
摘要
Considering the increasing concern of non-degradable versus eco-friendly products, any effort to reduce the use of petroleum-based products, is helping to have a sustainable planet. Nowadays, there is an increased awareness in the new generation to use green products, however, sometimes is not easy to have access to products that pollute less. Low-cost biomaterials such as cellulose provide an accessible option for manufacturing biodegradable products that can be safely discarded. In this work, we present a simple method to produce plates using corn husk and non-toxic additives such as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and citric acid. The process involves washing and softening the husks, optionally treating them with citric acid, and hot pressing between aluminum molds (13–20.1 cm diameter), 120 °C for 20–45 min, using CMC as an edible adhesive. Plates obtained with this method exhibited adequate structural integrity. FTIR analysis confirmed the present of characteristic O–H and carbonyl groups, as well as a new vibration at 1679 cm−1, indicating effective coating and molecular interactions. Mechanical testing showed that CMC-coated husk reached nearly doble the tensile strength of uncoated samples, attributed to reduced surface defects, improved stress distribution and enhanced interfacial adhesion. These results demonstrate that agro-industrial waste can be transformed into utensils with educational and domestic applications, contributing to the care of the planet and promote environmental education and awareness.