Pemanfaatan Selulosa Bakteri sebagai Penguat Honeycomb Paper Wrap Berbasis Limbah Pelepah Pisang

Abstract

Peningkatan penggunaan kemasan plastik pada sektor e-commerce mendorong pengembangan material kemasan ramah lingkungan berbasis sumber daya terbarukan. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengevaluasi efektivitas selulosa bakteri hasil fermentasi limbah cair tahu sebagai bahan penguat pada honeycomb paper wrap berbasis pulp pelepah pisang. Penelitian menggunakan empat perlakuan berdasarkan variasi komposisi pulp pelepah pisang dan selulosa bakteri, yaitu P0 (100:0), P1 (90:10), P2 (80:20), dan P3 (70:30). Karakterisasi meliputi sifat fisik, mekanik, dan morfologi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penambahan selulosa bakteri membentuk struktur serat yang lebih kompak melalui jaringan nanofibril yang mengisi ruang antar fiber, sehingga meningkatkan densitas, menurunkan porositas, serta memperbaiki sifat mekanik dan kapasitas menahan beban. Perlakuan P3 menghasilkan karakteristik terbaik dan melampaui kertas komersial pada sebagian besar parameter yang diuji. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kombinasi pulp pelepah pisang dan selulosa bakteri berpotensi menghasilkan material kemasan berbasis serat non-kayu yang lebih ramah lingkungan.

The increasing use of plastic packaging in the e-commerce sector has encouraged the development of environmentally friendly packaging materials as an alternative to conventional plastic packaging. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of bacterial cellulose produced through the fermentation of tofu wastewater as a reinforcing material in honeycomb paper wrap made from banana pseudostem pulp. The study employed four pulp composition treatments consisting of banana pseudostem pulp and bacterial cellulose, namely P0 (100:0), P1 (90:10), P2 (80:20), and P3 (70:30). The material characteristics were evaluated through physical, mechanical, and morphological analyses. The results showed that the addition of bacterial cellulose produced a more compact fiber structure through a nanofibril network that filled the spaces between fibers, thereby increasing density, reducing porosity, and improving mechanical properties and load-bearing capacity. The P3 treatment exhibited the best overall performance and outperformed commercial paper in most of the evaluated parameters. These findings indicate that the combination of banana pseudostem pulp and bacterial cellulose has considerable potential as an environmentally friendly non-wood-based packaging material.