BIODEGRADABLE, MORPHOLOGY, AND THERMAL ANALYSIS ON THERMOPLASTIC SAGO (Metroxylon Sagu Rottb.) STARCH/POLYETHYLENE/POLYETHYLENE GRAFTED MALEATE ANHYDRATE

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of adding polyethylene to thermoplastic sago starch in the presence of a coupling agent (polyethylene grafting maleate anhydrate) on the degradation rate, morphology, thermal gravimetry, and differential thermal analysis. The compound of thermoplastic sago starch/polyethylene/polyethylene grafting Maleic Anhydrous was carried out using the mixing method in an internal mixer. Based on the results of the study, there was a shift in the wave number in the O-H, C-H, and CH2 groups in bioplastic composites. The surface morphology showed that the dispersed phase (Polyethylene) was evenly distributed over the entire surface of the matrix (sago starch). The gravimetric analysis of the thermal curves shows that the thermal degradation occurs in three stages: 2010C, 3500C, and 5000C. The addition of polyethylene can increase the thermal resistance from 3500C to 6000C. It can be seen that there are endothermic and exothermic peaks on the Thermal Differential Analysis curve. The addition of polyethylene resulted in a decrease in the rate of degradation in freshwater, seawater, and soil burial media.