Extraction of Spear Grass (Imperata Cylindrica) As Pro-Oxidant In Polymer Blends

School of Bioprocess Engineering, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 3, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis.

^* Corresponding author: nuradibah@unimap.edu.my

Abstract

Packaging material such as plastic bags is one of the main factors that contribute to the environmental pollution due to slow degradation. The usage of metal oxide as pro-oxidant has been proven to accelerate the degradation of these materials, but the excessive usage of this pro-oxidant will be harmful to the human body. Therefore, in this research, spear grass is investigated to be used as natural based pro-oxidant that can increase the degradation rate of the polymers. In terms of that, spear grass is extracted by using pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) to obtain the metal element such as zinc (Zn) and ferum (Fe). PHWE is using water as a solvent which is highly favourable due to non-toxicity and non-flammable characteristics that make it easy to handle. Box-Behnken design is used to optimize the temperature, extraction time, and sample-to-solvent ratio to get the maximum amount of Zn and Fe concentration from the extracted spear grass. As a conclusion, the leaf of spear grass contributed the highest amount of Zn and Fe concentration. The highest amount of Zn and Fe concentration is achieved at 150 °C, 20 minutes, and 3 g of sample to 45 ml of water.