IIT Roorkee develops technology to make eco-friendly polybags

Prof PP Kundu from the Department of Chemical Engineering who is an expert in polymer technology has developed a thermoplastic starch that will be blended with low-density polyethylene (LDPE), thereby making LDPE biodegradable.

Prof PP Kundu from the Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Roorkee, who is an expert in polymer technology, has developed a thermoplastic starch that will be blended with low-density polyethylene (LDPE), thereby making LDPE biodegradable.  

IIT Roorkee has transferred this technology to Noida-based Agrsar Innovatives LLP for manufacturing biodegradable polybags in large quantities. The company will commercially utilise the technology for manufacturing biodegradable polybags in large quantities. 
Natural starch being crystalline cannot be blended with LDPE as its melting point is more than 250°C. So, it can be used as filler in LDPE. On the other hand, thermoplastic starch is a plasticised form of natural starch obtained from natural sources such as cassava, maize, potato, etc, along with plasticiser. Thermoplastic starch is mainly amorphous, whereas ordinary starch is crystalline. 
The commonly used plasticisers are polyfunctional alcohols such as glycerol, and sorbitol along with some low molecular weight compounds capable of forming intermolecular hydrogen bonding such as water, formamide, etc. The starch and plasticiser in the presence of heat and constant agitation undergo gelatinisation. In that process, the crystallinity of starch is sufficiently reduced, leading to an amorphous structure. Due to its amorphous character, it can be blended with LDPE. 
IIT Roorkee Director Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi said, “The developed technology is expected to have immense value in view of the large quantities of starch produced in India and the environment friendly nature of the solution.”  

The institute had recently launched the fourth batch of advanced certification programme in cybersecurity in collaboration with Imarticus Learning. The duration of the programme is six months and the classes are set to commence from October 1. The course has been designed to help learners work as cyber security analysts, information security analysts, ethical hackers, cloud security analysts, or application security analysts. 

Read more: 

• Telecom council opens centre of excellence at NIT Patna  
• JoSAA counselling 2022: Registration for IIT, NIT admissions ends tomorrow