Mithat Çelebi

ABSTRACT This study develops and characterizes polylactic acid (PLA) based biocomposites reinforced with black cumin cake (BC) for biodegradable cutlery applications. BC was incorporated at 20–40 wt% alongside 3 wt% talc and compatibilized with maleated PLA. Neat PLA exhibited a tensile strength of 46.34 MPa and modulus of 1043 MPa, while 40% of BC added sample showed reduced strength (12.20 MPa), which improved to 15.30 MPa with compatibilization.

1 INTRODUCTION Hydrogels are a type of polymeric material with a hydrophilic character that allows them to retain enormous volumes of water within their matrix.1 Chitosan (CS) is a versatile semi-synthetic polymer that is employed in a variety of applications such as hydrogel and tissue engineering because of its unique features including biocompatibility, biological degradation, and antibacterial activity.2-4 Cross-linking mechanism of hydrogels occurs using chemical or physical cross-linkers.

Abstract Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), member of the polyhydroxyalkanoate family, was generated from waste vegetable oil in a lab-scale bioreactor and filled with pistachio shell (S) flour to produce fully agro-industrial waste derived biodegradable low-cost composites via melt mixing.