ANKUR KASHYAP, SWETA KUMARI, SANGITA YADAV, NISHA SETHI, NEHA LUHACH AND ASHA GUPTA
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology,
Hisar-125 001 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail: gupta06amit@gmail.com; Mobile: 94163 72247)
(Received: August 16, 2025; Accepted: October 7, 2025)
ABSTRACT
The current study focused on an integrative strategy using nanoparticles and soy protein to create a more advanced, sustainable and environmentally-friendly bio-based replacement to traditional plastic. The soy waste was used to isolate soy protein through a process that included pulverization, defatting, solubilization and centrifugation, followed by extraction, which was then combined with varying concentrations (0.25, 0.5 and 1% ) of functionalized orange peel extract-based titanium dioxide nanoparticles. The produced 0.25, 0.5 and 1% nano-infused bioplastic sheets were subjected to various analytical tests employing techniques such as FTIR, SEM, DSC, water solubility, water transmission per cent (WVP), tensile strength and elongation to determine physiochemical and mechanical parameters. SEM and FTIR demonstrated substantial intermolecular interactions between SPI and nano-TiO 2. Pure SPI bioplastic sheets had the highest WVP (4.623±7.3 10-6.gh-1.m -1.pa-1) and elongation at break (230%). While SPI/TiO 2 (w/w 1%) had a maximum Tensile Strength (TS) of 7 MPa. Thermal features enabled sustainability at temperatures of 134, 90.55, 91.17 and 96.22°C. Furthermore, a comparison was made between bare bioplastic sheets and nano-infused bioplastic sheets to distinguish the alterations that occured during the infusion of nanoparticles.
Key words: Soy protein isolate, nano-TiO2, WVP, biodegradable composite film, elongation at break