Synthesis Of Biodegradable Polymer Based On Wheat Gluten

Abstract

PVC is one of the world's most commonly used plastics. According to reports by Recycle Trade India, approximately 10 thousand tons per day (TPD) of plastics waste is generated i.e. 9% of 1.20 lakh's TPD of municipal solid waste in India. Hence, it has become an important technological and scientific challenge of today to develop new alternatives to achieve zero waste. The uses of proteins, lipids, cellulose and polysaccharides have thus been extensively studied to obtain biopolymer which would bring the next evolution in plastic industry. Wheat Gluten (WG), a protein component of wheat offers such a possibility, mainly because it is water insoluble & elastic in nature. It being non-toxic, biodegradable and having environmental friendly properties gives it an added advantage. This research is mainly focused on biodegradability of wheat gluten based polymer which can then serve as a viable alternative to plastics. Gluten extracted from wheat flour is converted into films using glycerol as plasticizer and the films degraded in 36 days.