4. Conclusion
The excellent absorption capacity of bamboo charcoal (BC) can
be used for retaining food and inhibiting the growth of bacteria
and fungi. In this paper, BC was used to reinforce polylactic acid
(PLA) for food storage applications. This study is aimed at investigating
the mechanical, optical and thermal properties of BC
reinforced PLA with and without compost degradation and UV
irradiation. According to experimental results, the mechanical
properties of BC/PLA composites increases gradually with
increasing BC content until it reaches 7.5 wt%. However, as the BC
content up to 10 wt%, aggregation of BC particles reduced the
mechanical properties of the composites. Moreover, neat PLA has
a lower compost degradation rate but higher UV irradiation rate as
compared with BC/PLA composites. SEM images revealed the aggregation
effect of a 10 wt.% BC/PLA composite and the compost
and UV irradiation of the samples. However, It has been found that
a good dispersion of BC in PLA up to 7.5 wt.% through extrusion
and injection moulding