STUDIES OF PRINTABILITY ON BIODEGRADABLE FILM

Abstract

Biodegradable film made from PVA was synthesized in the lab. The biodegradability of the same film tested during soil burial test showed only 11-15 % degradation in 55 days under atmospheric condition. While manufacturing film plasticizers like glycerin & PEG was added, it was concluded during characterization that plasticizer could largely reduce the melting point of PVA and increase the thermal stability of PVA. The increase in the difference between the melting point and the thermal decomposition temperature enables the thermal processing of PVA in melt extrusion. The FTIR studies show that the plasticizer could effectively destroy the hydrogen bonding of PVA, this is because that the plasticizer glycerin could form strong interaction with the hydroxyl group of PVA. Synthesized films were given surface treatment & coating (like PVDC, Acrylic & 2% Borax) to test the printability which reduces when PEG is added. Initial results clearly shows that corona treatment provide better results compare to plasma, finally it is clear that in PVA film treated with plasma & Corona & coated with borox 2% solution gave better results in this study.