Production and characterization of cellulose based bioplastic materials

Petroleum-based polymers have been produced and consumed at unsustainable rates for almost a century. This is causing serious damage to humanity and the environment, as well as various energy crises. Although plastics have many advantages, they can remain undissolved in nature for years, leading to significant environmental pollution. In addition, petroleum resources, the main raw material of plastics, are decreasing day by day. In recent years, due to the problems caused by traditional plastics, studies on the production of biodegradable plastics and their replacement of petroleum-based plastics have gained great importance. Under the leadership of the European Union, bioplastics are paved the way politically and projects are supported. In addition, the introduction of bioplastic-based products by companies such as Puma, Lego, IKEA, Danone, Heinz and Toyota signals the future of the sector. However, bioplastics have limitations such as high production costs, poor processability, limited long-term thermal stability and low mechanical properties, which hinder their widespread use. Cellulose is a natural polysaccharide found in the cell walls of plants and is the most common biopolymer in the world. Due to its widespread availability, it is cheap. Due to its structure, cellulose exhibits superior mechanical and chemical properties compared to other natural carbon sources. It is non-toxic, renewable, biodegradable. It responds perfectly to composite structure. It is an excellent natural raw material that responds to small improvements in processes with high performance increase when obtained from biomass. It will be used as a matrix material in this study. This thesis aims to produce cellulose-based bioplastic materials that are both biomass-based and biodegradable. Its main objective is to investigate the production process of cellulose-based bioplastic material and to analyze the chemical and structural properties of the obtained material.