Automating a kinetic study of the degradation of biodegradable and compostable plastics

CHED 1098

Joel Klabo, joelklabo@gmail.com, Department of Chemistry, California State University, Chico, Chico, CA 95929, Joseph Greene, jpgreene@csuchico.edu, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronic Engineering and Manufacturing Technology, California State University, Chico, Chico, CA 95929, and Randy M. Miller, rmmiller@csuchico.edu, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Chico, 400 W. First Street, Chico, CA 95929-0210.
Many consumer products are made from materials that are reported to be biodegradable and compostable. For a product to be marked as compostable it should disintegrate and lose more than 90% of its original dry weight after 12 weeks with 60% or more of the organic carbon converted into carbon dioxide. The purpose of this project was to design and build a laboratory scale apparatus that would automate the acquisition and analysis of the amount of carbon dioxide produced over several weeks under controlled conditions of temperature, humidity and oxygen content. The compost contained consumer products made from a variety of biodegradable materials such as polylactic acid, corn starch, and sugarcane. The results give us greater insight into the mechanism by which some consumer products are degraded by compost microorganisms or other factors.
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Environmental Chemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, March 26, 2007 Hyatt Regency Chicago -- Riverside Center, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 233rd ACS National Meeting, Chicago, IL, March 25-29, 2007