Pengaruh biodegradable foam serat sabut buah pinang dan tapioka dengan penambahan polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)

Abstract

Biodegradable foam or biofoam is a packaging that can be decomposed naturally by microbial activity, made from natural compounds such as starch and cellulose. This study aims to determine the effect of adding polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on the characteristics of biodegradable foam from areca nut and tapioca fibers and to obtain the right addition of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to produce the best characteristics of biodegradable foam from areca nut and tapioca fibers. This study used a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 5 levels of treatment, namely the addition of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) (0 g, 7.5 g, 15 g, 22.5 g, and 30 g), 4 replications. Data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan's Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at the 5% level to see the differences between each treatment. The results of this study indicate that the addition of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has a very significant effect on air content, air absorption, density, biodegradation, and compressive strength. The effective degradable formula is 15 g of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with a water content of 8.79%, air absorption of 20.68%, density of 0.70 g/cm3, 100% biodegradation, and compressive strength of 0.037 MPa.