Development and Characterization of Sustainable Bioplastic Films Using Cellulose Extracted from Prosopis juliflora

ABSTRACT

To diminish the environmental impacts instigated by plastics, investigators recommended bioplastics. In the current work, an attempt is made to develop sustainable bioplastics from waste plants. Cellulose was extracted from the wood of Prosopis juliflora. The Prosopis juliflora wood was cut and ground into powder. The powder was washed with water and subjected to several chemical treatments to extract the cellulose. The bioplastic film samples were produced using it. Six different samples were prepared by varying the composition of cellulose, gelatin, citric acid, and glycerol. Several tests were carried out on samples developed as per ASTM standards, and the results were compared with the existing bioplastics. The test results indicated that sample 1 has a maximum tensile strength of 7.73 MPa. The average bursting strength of the bioplastic film is 12.44 kg/cm², which is better than the other bioplastics reported in the literature. The average biodegradability of developed bioplastic films is approximately 59.43%. The results revealed that the Prosopis juliflora cellulose-based bioplastics would be a better substitute for conventional plastics.

摘要

为了减少塑料对环境的影响，研究人员推荐使用生物塑料. 在目前的工作中，试图从废物工厂中开发可持续的生物塑料. 从胡罗卜的木材中提取纤维素. 普罗索匹斯的juliflora木材被切割并研磨成粉末. 用水洗涤该粉末并进行若干化学处理以提取纤维素. 使用它生产生物塑料薄膜样品. 通过改变纤维素、明胶、柠檬酸和甘油的组成制备了六种不同的样品. 对根据ASTM标准开发的样品进行了几项测试，并将结果与现有的生物塑料进行了比较. 试验结果表明，样品1的最大抗拉强度为7.73MPa. 生物塑料薄膜的平均爆裂强度为12.44 kg/cm2，比文献中报道的其他生物塑料要好. 已开发的生物塑料薄膜的平均生物降性约为59.43%. 研究结果表明，基于Prosopis juliflora纤维素的生物塑料将是传统塑料的更好替代品

KEYWORDS:

• Plastics
• bioplastics
• starch
• cellulose
• biodegradability
• Prosopis juliflora

关键词:

• 塑料
• 生物塑料
• 淀粉
• 纤维素
• 生物降解性

1. Introduction

The usage of plastics is inevitable in the modern era. A wide variety of plastics are used for diverse applications. During the year 2020, nearly 367 million metric tons of plastics were produced worldwide. Though this is 0.3% less than the previous year’s production, plastics cause severe environmental impacts. To solve this issue, researchers have developed various bioplastics. Due to its simplicity and better tensile and other properties, most of the researchers developed bioplastics from starch (Abidin et al. 2015; Marichelvam, Jawaid, and Asim 2019). Researchers developed bioplastics by using cassava starch (Edhirej et al. 2017a, 2017b; Luchese et al. 2018), sugar palm starch (Ceseracciu et al. 2015), corn starch (Ghanbarzadeh, Almasi, and Entezami 2011; Kim, Jane, and Lamsal 2017; Yang et al. 2022), potato starch (Podshivalov et al. 2017; Zakaria et al. 2018; Zhang, Wang, and Cheng 2018), rice starch (Woggum, Sirivongpaisal, and Wittaya 2014), Prosopis juliflora starch (Marichelvam et al. 2022) and wheat starch (Song, Zuo, and Chen 2018). Rodrigues et al. (2020) developed bioplastics films using the starch derived from babassu mesocarp. The other starches used for bioplastics and the additives added with the starch materials to enhance the properties can be found in (Jabeen et al. 2015; Siracusa et al. 2008). The starches described above are food grains, and reports indicated that 957 million people from 93 countries do not have sufficient food because of poverty. Hence, it is the responsibility of researchers to develop new bioplastics from other bioresources.

Prosopis juliflora is one of the plants that was introduced to stabilize the ecosystem in several parts of the world. Unfortunately, this plant has created some environmental problems (Edrisi, El-Keblawy, and Abhilash 2020). The Prosopis juliflora consists of 40–45 wt. % of cellulose, 25–30 wt. % of hemicellulose, 11–28 wt. % of lignin, and the remaining 3–15 wt.% of extractives (Prabha, Dahms, and Malliga 2014). Researchers attempted to extract the cellulose from Prosopis juliflora because it contains more amount of cellulose. Peelman et al. (2015) substantiated that cellulose could be used for packaging applications. Mostafa et al. (2018) developed cellulose acetate bioplastics from agricultural waste and concluded that cellulose acetate bioplastics could be used in food industries and medical applications. Cifriadi et al. (2017) manufactured cellulose-based bioplastics from the oil palm empty fruit bunch and mixed plasticizer and compatibilizer with the cellulose. They mixed cassava starch and glycerol with the cellulose solution to produce the bioplastics and investigated their properties. Asgher, Bilal, and Iqbal (2020) addressed the importance of biomaterials in food packaging applications. They pointed out that researchers should concentrate their work to increase the properties of the biomaterial. Batista Meneses et al. (2022) reported the various agro-industrial waste materials available worldwide. They discussed the biochemical composition of many agro-industrial wastes like rice straw, rice husk, wheat stalk, corn bagasse, etc. Chopra (2022) has explained the cellulose extraction techniques in detail.

Harini, Ramya, and Sukumar (2018) utilized banana peel and bract to extract the micro and nano cellulose fibers and concluded that the cellulose-based fibers would substitute the synthetic polymers and reduce the environmental impacts. Rohmawati et al. (2018) produced bioplastics from cellulose that were extracted from teak wood. They synthesized cellulose acetate from the extracted cellulose. They mixed this cellulose acetate with various chemicals and plasticizers to produce the bioplastics. Tang et al. (2018) developed nanocomposite films using nanocrystalline cellulose, chitosan, and guar gum and investigated the rheological and mechanical properties by varying the nanocrystalline cellulose percentage and determining the optimal value. Tedeschi et al. (2018) examined the barrier and ductile properties of thermoplastic cellulose acetate oleate films. Madhu et al. (2019) investigated the mechanical, morphological, Physico-chemical, and thermal properties of alkali-treated Prosopis juliflora fibers and concluded that the fibers can be used as an effective reinforcement material in composite manufacturing. Ravindran, Sreekala, and Thomas (2019) extracted cellulose nanofibers from the pineapple leaves and reported that the cellulose fiber could be used for different applications. A biodegradable bioplastics film was developed by Azmin and Nor (2020) using the cellulose extracted from cocoa pod husk and the sugarcane bagasse fiber. The ratio of the cellulose and fiber was varied and several samples were prepared. They reported that the bioplastics film with 75% cellulose and 25% fiber provided better physicochemical properties.

Debiagi, Faria-Tischer, and Mali (2020) recommended a simple and low-cost method to develop nano-fibrillated cellulose from the soybean hull. Yaradoddi et al. (2020) developed carboxymethyl cellulose that was resulting from agricultural waste materials like sugar cane bagasse. They mixed the carboxymethyl cellulose with agar, gelatin, and varied concentrations of glycerol to manufacture film for packaging applications. Debiagi, Faria-Tischer, and Mali (2021) used a reactive extrusion process in an oat hull to produce nano-fibrillated cellulose. Hu et al. (2021) discussed various mechanical methods to produce cellulose nanofibrils to increase the mechanical properties of recycled paper. Liu et al. (2021) addressed a detailed literature review on biopolymers resulting from cellulose for food packing applications. Menezes et al. (2021) prepared membranes using cellulose nanofibers attained from orange peel. The cellulose nanofibers were treated with the aid of 1-methylimidazolium. To improve the mechanical strength, the cellulose nanofibers were incorporated with the starch. Suryanto, Pahlevi, and Yanuhar (2021) focussed on the impact of bacterial cellulose addition to the biocomposites derived from cassava starch. They considered the mechanical properties and the morphological properties. Wang et al. (2021) applied a multilayer surface construction technique to improve cellulose-based packaging materials’ barrier properties.

From the above literature review, it is concluded that not much work has been done on the extraction of cellulose from Prosopis juliflora. Hence, it is proposed to extract the cellulose from Prosopis juliflora and the pull-out cellulose was mixed with the plasticizers to prepare the biofilms. The performance of the biofilms was analyzed by conducting several tests like biodegradability test, tensile test, water absorption test, water contact angle test, and water solubility test.

2. Materials and methods

The Prosopis juliflora plant was obtainable at Sethur village, Virudhunagar district of Tamilnadu, India, and the plant and the stem of the plant are shown in Figure 1a–b respectively. The analytical grades of chemicals used for the extraction of cellulose were supplied by Ranabai Chemicals and Housekeeping, Bangalore, India. The cellulose pull-out from Prosopis juliflora is depicted in Figure 1c. Citric acid, the gelatine powder, the glycerol, and purified water required for the manufacture of bioplastics film were procured from Punitha Enterprises, Madurai, Tamilnadu, India.

Figure 1. (a) Prosopis juliflora Plant (b) Stem of Prosopis juliflora (c) Cellulose pull-out.

2.1. Extraction process

In this work, an attempt was made to extract cellulose from Prosopis juliflora in the test center on an experimental scale using the methods described by Valencia et al. (2019). Prosopis juliflora wood was cut and then ground into powder. The powder was washed with water. Then, it was treated with NaOH solution. A mixture of NaOH, CH₃COOH, and NaCl solution was used to bleach the powder. The bleaching process was repeated several times. The powder was again washed and treated with C₂H₂O₄. Then, a mechanical and acid hydrolysis process was carried out and the cellulose was extracted.

2.2. Preparation of bioplastics film samples

The bioplastics films are produced by different methods such as compression molding, casting, and extrusion are some of the important methods used to prepare the bioplastics film samples. In this work, the bioplastics film samples were prepared by the method described by Muscat et al. (2012). Prosopis juliflora cellulose, citric acid, purified water, gelatine, and glycerol are used to manufacture the bioplastics film. 100 mL of purified water was taken. The required quantities of cellulose gelatin, glycerol, and citric acid are added to the purified water. The mixture was rigorously stirred continuously for 10 min at about 180 rpm. The mixture was kept on a hot plate and heated at 100°C. The mixture was stirred manually for 70 min. The mixture was poured onto a Teflon-coated glass plate and spread uniformly. The mixture was dried out for 3 to 4 days and then the cast film was removed (Muscat et al. 2012). The other samples were prepared by varying the composition of the materials. The composition of different bioplastics is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Composition of different bioplastics film.

Sample	Cellulose (g)	Gelatin (g)	Glycerol (g)	Citric acid (g)	Purified water (ml)
S1	10	2	3	1	100
S2	10	2	3	2	100
S3	10	3	3	2	100
S4	10	3	4	2	100
S5	10	3	4	3	100
S6	10	3	5	3	100

3. Characterization

3.1. Biodegradability test of bioplastics films

The biodegradable nature of the bioplastics film was determined using the soil kept in a container. The square-sized samples of bioplastics film were suppressed into a biodegradability test. The square pieces of dimension 2 cm x 2 cm are prepared from the bioplastics film and their initial weight is recorded. The soil of weight of about 500 g close to the plant roots which contains a good amount of bacteria and moisture content was considered for the test. The depth of 3 cm for 15 days under the atmospheric environment. The samples were taken out of the container after 15 days and their final weight is noted (Marichelvam et al. 2022).

The biodegradability was determined by using Equation (1)(1) $Biodegradability\left(\mathrm{\%}\right)=\frac{W_i-W_f}{W_i}\times 100$(1) .

(1) $Biodegradability\left(\mathrm{\%}\right)=\frac{W_i-W_f}{W_i}\times 100$(1)

Where

W_i – initial weight of the bioplastics (g)

W_f – final weight of the bioplastics (g)

3.2. Bursting test of bioplastics films

The resistance of a bioplastics film to a sudden rupture especially due to internal pressure is known as bursting strength. The bursting strength of the films is measured as per the ASTM D774 standards using a Bursting strength tester (Vertex BST – S2, India).

3.3. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of bioplastics films

Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy is an analytical method used to identify the chemical functional groups present in the bioplastics films by producing an infrared absorption spectrum. The wave number of the spectrum was collected between the ranges 400 cm⁻¹ and 4000 cm⁻¹ using a Shimadzu spectrometer (FTIR-8400S, Japan). The number of scans used was 64 and the resolution was 4 cm⁻¹.

3.4. Moisture content test of bioplastics films

The square pieces of dimension 2 cm x 2 cm are prepared from the bioplastics film and the weight of each film was noted. The film was kept in the oven maintaining the temperature of 110°C till the fixed dry weight of the film was obtained and the mass of the dry film was recorded (Salarbashi et al. 2013). Five numbers of each film sample were considered for determining the moisture content of the films.

The moisture content is measured using Equation (2)(2) $Moisturecontent\left(\mathrm{\%}\right)=\frac{W_1-W_2}{W_1}\times 100$(2) .

(2) $Moisturecontent\left(\mathrm{\%}\right)=\frac{W_1-W_2}{W_1}\times 100$(2)

Where

W₁ – initial weight of the bioplastics (g)

W₂ – final weight of the bioplastics (g)

3.5. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of bioplastics films

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) machine model HITACHIS-3400 N was used to analyze the morphology of the biodegraded bioplastics films. This analysis was performed with the current intensity of 58 μA for operating the instrument. The voltage potential was maintained at 10 kV with a preset working distance of 7.4 mm. For conducting SEM analysis, the bioplastics film samples were gold coated.

3.6. Tensile test of bioplastics films

The tensile strength of the bioplastics films was measured by conducting the tensile test as per ASTM D882 standard using Testometric Machine M350 10CT. The distance between the grips was maintained at 50 mm with a cross-head speed of 50 mm/min. The film samples were prepared with dimensions of a length of 110 mm, a width of 30 mm, and a thickness of 0.36 mm. The film samples were prepared in the Dumbbell shape for tensile testing. This test was performed with ten replications for each film. The tensile strength of the film was measured in the period of stretching and the mean value was recorded.

3.7. Thickness measurement of bioplastics films

The thickness of the bioplastics film plays a significant role when using the film for packaging applications. The thickness of bioplastics films was measured as per ASTM D6988 standards. A digital Vernier Caliper (Mitutoyo, Japan) was adopted to determine the thickness of the bioplastics film. The readings were taken at five different places and the average value is considered.

3.8. Measurement of water contact angle of bioplastics films

The hydrophobicity nature of the bioplastic films was measured by examining their wettability through the water contact angle by using a goniometer. The sample was positioned during light and the camera was at a similar angle. This allowed the flat baseline to be attained for the measurement of the contact angle measurement. The contact angle varies between 0 and 180°, according to the wettability of solid material. The nature of the material is extreme hydrophilic if the contact angle value is 0º and extreme hydrophobic if the value is 180º. The bioplastic sample films are cut into small pieces so that a small drop of about 0.005 mL water could be poured over the piece (Marichelvam et al. 2022). If the water contact angle is around 60º then the better solubility of bioplastics film was obtained.

3.9. Thermal studies of bioplastics films

To study the thermal degradation behavior, the samples were assessed by thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) using Jupiter simultaneous analyzer (model: STA449 F3TGA). The mass transformation was analyzed as a function of temperature in an interval of 25–1000°C at a heating rate of 5°C/min. The sample was exposed to nitrogen gas at a flow rate of 20 mL/min.

4. Results and discussions

4.1. Biodegradability of bioplastics films

The biodegradability values of different samples are represented in Figure 2. The biodegradability of the first sample was 52.6%. The biodegradability of bioplastic films increases when the amount of citric acid, gelatin, and glycerol increases. This may be due to the presence of the O-H and C-O functional groups present in the films. The average biodegradability of bioplastic films was approximately 59.43%. As the biodegradability of the bioplastics films is greater than 50%, the cellulose-based bioplastics films could be used for packaging applications and also minimized the environmental impacts. The results indicated that the biodegradability of the cellulose-based bioplastics films is superior to starch-based bioplastics films (48.73%) addressed in the literature (Marichelvam, Jawaid, and Asim 2019).

Figure 2. Biodegradability comparison of different bioplastics film samples.

4.2. Bursting strength of bioplastics films

The bursting strength of the bioplastics films produced is provided in Table 2. The average bursting strength of the six bioplastics film is 12.44 kg/cm² which is greater than the plastic films made by the linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), medium-density polyethylene (MDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) (Kumar et al. 2007). The bioplastics sample 6 has a minimum bursting strength of 9.22 ± 0.24 kg/cm². However, it is very much greater than the bursting strength of LLDPE (0.5 kg/cm²), LDPE (1.2 kg/cm²), MDPE (2.0 kg/cm²), and HDPE (4.5 kg/cm²). Hence, the proposed cellulose-based bioplastics films can be used for packaging applications.

Table 2. Bursting strength of different bioplastics film.

Sample	Bursting strength (kg/cm^2)
S1	16.08 ± 0.22
S2	14.67 ± 0.16
S3	12.96 ± 0.32
S4	11.42 ± 0.26
S5	10.27 ± 0.18
S6	9.22 ± 0.24

4.3. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of bioplastics films

FTIR results of cellulose-based bioplastics film samples are presented in Figure 3. The FTIR result of sample S₁ is shown in Figure 3 (a). The results of sample S₁ indicated that wave number 3733.93 cm⁻¹ represents the stretching of hydroxyl groups because of water as well as carbohydrates, 3610.49 cm⁻¹ indicates O-H stretching due to primary alcohol and secondary alcohol, 3307.69 cm⁻¹ shows the strong C-O stretching due to primary alcohol present in the cellulose. The wave numbers 3722.36 cm⁻¹, 3722.36 cm⁻¹, 3734.90 cm⁻¹, 3722.36 cm^−1, and 3724.29 cm⁻¹ represent the stretching of hydroxyl groups, 3634.60 cm⁻¹, 3634.60 cm⁻¹, 3613.39 cm⁻¹, 3634.60 cm^−1, and 3632.67 cm⁻¹ indicates to O-H stretching due to primary alcohol and secondary alcohol, 3196.79 cm⁻¹, 3118.60 cm⁻¹, 3122.54 cm⁻¹, 3179.43 cm^−1, and 3119.65 cm⁻¹ shows the strong C-O stretching due to primary alcohol present in the cellulose for samples 2–6 respectively.

Figure 3. FTIR results of cellulose- based bioplastics films samples.

4.4. Moisture content of bioplastics films

The moisture content values of the cellulose-based bioplastics films are shown in Figure 4. Sample S₁ has a moisture content of 10.5%. The moisture content of the bioplastics films increases with the raise in the percentage of the amount of citric acid, gelatin, and glycerol. The average moisture content of cellulose-based bioplastics films is 12.95% which is almost equal to the moisture content of starch-based bioplastics films (12.88%) (Marichelvam, Jawaid, and Asim 2019). The bioplastic films with less moisture content are desirable as the bioplastics are to be used for packaging applications. More moisture content in the bioplastics would affect the quality of packed materials. Hence, the bioplastics developed in the present work could be used for packaging applications.

Figure 4. Moisture content of different bioplastics film samples.

4.5. Scanning electron microscopy images of bioplastics films

The SEM images of the biodegraded cellulose-based bioplastics films are illustrated in Figure 5. The SEM images of bioplastic samples indicated that the surface structure has changed the degradation in the bioplastic samples due to microbial action. The uneven film surface and the flaws present on the surface also prove that the developed bioplastics are biodegradable. The SEM image of sample S₁ which has a smaller amount of citric acid, gelatin, and glycerol is depicted in Figure 5 (a). The surface integrity (i.e., the surface condition of the samples after the biodegradability test) was poor for sample S₁. Sample S₁ also has a greater number of defects, rough grains, and irregularities. Many cellulose granules were witnessed as a result of the presence of a reduced amount of concentration of plasticizers. For sample S₆ which has more amount of plasticizers, the surface integrity was better. The number of flaws is relatively less in sample S₆. The other samples represent a medium amount of plasticizers and therefore a modest level of surface integrity and flaws were observed.

Figure 5. (a-f). SEM images of bioplastics film after the biodegradability test.

4.6. Tensile strength of bioplastics films

The comparison of tensile strength of different cellulose-based bioplastics films is described in Figure 6. The result indicated that sample S₁ has a maximum tensile strength of 7.73 MPa. When the percentage of citric acid, gelatin and glycerol added with cellulose increases the tensile strength decreases. Sample 2 has a tensile strength of 6.67 MPa. Sample 6 has the least tensile strength of 4.54 MPa and results indicated the average tensile strength as 5.84 MPa. However, this tensile strength is greater than the bioplastics films made of Amylomaize starch 5.47 MPa (Qin et al. 2019), Banana starch 5.00 MPa (Sapei et al. 2015), Cassava starch 5.20 MPa (Wahyuningtiyas and Suryanto 2018), Corn Starch 4.81 MPa (Jiugao, Ning, and Xiaofei 2005), Potato starch 2.66 MPa (Oleyaei et al. 2016), Taro starch 2.15 MPa (Shanmathy, Mohanta, and Thirugnanam 2021), and yam starch 4.075 MPa (Behera, Mohanta, and Thirugnanam 2022). The results revealed that the tensile strength of the developed cellulose-based bioplastic samples is much better than many other bioplastics addressed in the literature. The tensile properties of the bioplastics films revealed that cellulose-based bioplastics can be used for packaging applications. The elongation at break values of the samples is depicted in Figure 7. Sample 1 has 120.8% of elongation at break. The percentage elongation at break values changes with the change in the percentage of citric acid, gelatin, and glycerol added with cellulose. The stress-strain curves of the films are depicted in Figure 8. Since there are no appreciable changes in the slope of the curves, it can be inferred from the figure that the samples exhibited plastic behavior.

Figure 6. Tensile strength of different bioplastics film samples.

Figure 7. The elongation at break values of the samples.

Figure 8. Stress-strain curves of bioplastics film samples.

4.7. Film thickness of bioplastics films

The film thickness values of the different bioplastics film samples are depicted in Figure 9. From the results, it is concluded that the mean thickness of all the prepared samples is greater than 50 microns. This indicates that the prepared samples satisfy the requirements of the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021 in India. The bioplastics with more than 50 microns are stronger, and more durable and they could be recycled. Hence, film thickness values of the different bioplastics film samples indicated that cellulose-based bioplastics can be used for packaging applications.

Figure 9. Film thickness for different bioplastics film samples.

4.8. Water contact angle of bioplastics films

The water contact angle of various bioplastics samples is depicted in Figure 10. The sample’s water contact angles are greater than 60º for the first five samples. Sample S₆ has a water contact angle of about 70º. This proves that the cellulose-based bioplastics films are hydrophilic when compared with normal LDPE plastic (almost hydrophobic). The hydrophilic films are used as suitable materials for some medical applications. Hence, the developed samples could be used for the manufacturing of glucose test strip covers. The water contact angle of the cellulose-based bioplastics films is better than the water contact angles of bioplastics film prepared from Corn starch (47.25º) (Amin, Chowdhury, and Kowser 2019) and Potato starch (Abdullah et al. 2018).

4.9. Thermogravimetric analysis of bioplastics films

The Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) result of sample 1 is shown in Figure 11. One can easily observe the three different regimes of degradation from the TGA thermograms. It is observed that a small weight loss of nearly 5 to 8% was found in the first regime of degradation in the range of 70–130°C. A significant weight loss occurred in the range of 230°C −320°C. This weight loss would be the degradation of the additives. From the TGA curve, it may be concluded that the bioplastics could be used for high-temperature packaging applications.

Figure 10. Water contact angle of the different bioplastics film samples and LDPE.

Figure 11. TGA curve for sample 1.

5. Conclusion

Prosopis juliflora creates severe environmental impacts. In this work, cellulose is extracted from Prosopis juliflora, and six bioplastics films were made by adding citric acid, gelatin, and glycerol. Different tests were performed to validate the performance of the cellulose-based bioplastics films. The average tensile strength of the cellulose-based bioplastics films was 5.84 MPa which is greater than other bioplastics films. The bursting strength, water contact angle, and biodegradability properties were superior to other bioplastics available in the literature. The film thickness was more than 50 microns, and the water contact angle of the bioplastics was greater than 60º. The thermogravimetric analysis results proved the thermal stability of the samples. The results revealed that the developed cellulose-based bioplastics film could be used for packaging applications. The usage of cellulose-based bioplastics not only reduces the impact of Prosopis juliflora but also reduces the effect of petroleum-based plastics. However, appropriate manufacturing techniques would be developed for the commercialization of cellulose-based bioplastics.

Availability of data and materials

Yes

Author Contribution

Marichelvam, M.K, and Manimaran P designed the experiment and did experimental analysis while Anish Khan, Edi Syafri, Geetha, M, repeat the results and verify after that Kandakodeeswaran, K and Abdullah M. Asiri write the final draft of the manuscript.

Consent for publication

Yes

Highlights of this Investigation

• This research focuses on developing environmentally friendly bioplastics derived from cellulose extracted from the Prosopis juliflora plant.

• Cellulose-based bioplastics from Prosopis juliflora would be a better substitute for conventional plastics as the average biodegradability of the developed bioplastic films is about 59.43%.

• The average tensile strength of the cellulose- based bioplastics films was 5.84 MPa which is greater than other bioplastics films.

Acknowledgements

This research work was funded by Institutional Fund Projects under grant no. (IFPIP:1009-140-1443). The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical and financial support provided by the Ministry of Education and King Abdulaziz University, DSR, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).