This document summarizes a student group's project on biodegradable materials. The group conducted several activities: comparing biodegradable and non-biodegradable packing materials, identifying biodegradable objects, processing and testing gelatin films of different thickness, measuring degradation rates of materials under different pH and temperature conditions, designing a medicine capsule, and developing a smart polymer to monitor human temperature. The polymer project utilized shape memory polymers that change shape with temperature, with the goal of indicating changes in human temperature. The document outlines the science and applications of shape memory polymers.

1. Biodegradable
materials

2. Tamim
Almajd
Group members :
- Bshayer Al-rashdi
- Raghad Al-kharfi
- Zahrah Al-makki
- Ebtehal Abdulla
AL - Bairaq
I am Discovering
Materials
(Biodegradable
Materials)

3. ‫اثين‬ ‫ل‬‫آ‬ ‫محد‬ ‫بن‬ ‫متمي‬ ‫يخ‬‫ش‬‫ل‬‫ا‬ ‫لكمة‬:
‫والاهامت‬ ‫ناءة‬‫ب‬‫ل‬‫ا‬ ‫ات‬‫ر‬‫باد‬‫مل‬‫ا‬‫و‬ ‫تقل‬‫س‬‫مل‬‫ا‬ ‫تفكري‬‫ل‬‫ا‬‫و‬ ‫إبداع‬‫ل‬‫ا‬‫و‬ ‫لالجهتاد‬ ‫حباجة‬ ‫حنن‬‫العلمي‬ ‫يل‬‫تحص‬‫ل‬‫اب‬ ‫م‬
‫اكفة‬ ‫الاختصاصات‬ ‫يف‬......

4. Comparing packing materials
.
Research: Hunting for biodegradable
and non-biodegradable objects.
processing biodegradable
materials and comparing
their mechanical properties.
measuring the degradation
rate of biodegradable
materials.
Designing a medicine-
release capsules.
Product idea
Outline:

5. What the module is about ?
• This is our second participation in AL-Bairaq (2 of us ),
This topic is about how to use the biodegradable
materials that can help our plant from the white
pollution that may destroy the plant by the next Few
years if we did not find any solution for This problem !

6. Activity1 :comparing packing materials
(Part A)
Objective:
• To set apart the biodegradable polymer from the
non biodegradable polymer.
Procedure:
• Immerse the polymers in water.
Results:
• The biodegradable polymers dissolved in water
while the other remained the same.

7. Activity 1: Comparing biodegradable and non
biodegradable packing materials.
(Part B)
Conclusion:
A biodegradable packing material can be as effective as a
non biodegradable packing material in protecting an egg
from breaking.
Steps:
 We brought two eggs
and we packed them
in bags, and we put
the polymers around
them
Height
Egg 1
with
starch
(white
peanut)
Egg 2 with
polystyrene(green
peanut)
Table
height
Not
broken
Not broken
Human
height
Broken Broken
 Results:

8. Activity 2: Hunting for biodegradable
objects .
We have been searching about biodegradable materials and non -biodegradable
materials.
It`s show that biodegradable materials ,degrade easily in nature and non-
biodegradable materials don’t degrade in nature, and it causes many effect on the
environment
• Biodegradable
materials:
• Non biodegradable
materials:

9. Activity 3: Processing biodegradable materials and
comparing their mechanical properties
Part A : Processing Biodegradable Materials .
- Objective: Making gelatin films
• Procedure: Process gelatin, a biodegradable material, into a
gel and into two films that vary in thickness and
compressibility.
Part B: Comparing Their
Mechanical Properties .
- Discover how these materials vary
in strength and compressibility.

10. 5 capsules 10 capsules 20 capsules
5% 10% 20%
HCL HCL HCL
Conclusion:
1) The highest concentration which is 20% was the hardest because of the cross links.
2) When the concentration increases the hardness increase.

11. Activity 4: Measuring the Degradation Rates of
Biodegradable Materials
Objective:
Test the effect of pH,
temperature and
concentration on the
degradation rates of the gel,
films, packing material
(starch), and gelatin capsule.

12. Activity 4 (processing biodegradable materials &
comparing their mechanical properties)
Boiling water
PH(7)
HCL
PH(4)
NaOH PH(10)
Peanut starch 23.38 min 45 min 41 min
5% Gelatin Films 0.01 sec 8 min 9 min
20% Gelatin Films 0.01 sec 28 min 29 min
Gelatin Capsules 3.07 min 38 min 41 min

13. Activity 4: Measuring the Degradation Rates
of Biodegradable Materials
 Conclusion:
Environmental conditions can affect the rate at
which a biodegradable material breaks down,
environmental conditions such as: the PH level,
the concentration, the temperature and the
surface area.
0
2
4
6
8
10
5% 20% Gelatin
capsule
Starch
Boiling water HCl NaOH

14. Design Project :
(Designing a Medicine-Delivery Device)
• Step 1: Make Alginate beads (represents capsule)
sodium alginate + calcium chloride
• Step 2: Soak in dye (represents drug)
• Step 3: Dye release (represents drug release in human
blood)
put beads in sodium citrate.

15. Final Project:
Smart polymer to monitor human temperature
• Introduction :
Plastic packaging usually ends up in the landfill, we
designed a new type of packaging that can be reused.
Made from a material called shape memory polymer
(SMP)–which can be easily flattened with heat or
light, but later pop back into the original shape

16. Final Project:
Smart polymer to monitor human temperature
• Science behind:
• This project is an application that utilize the use of Shape Memory Polymer
(SMP)
• Shape-memory polymers (SMPs) are polymeric smart materials that
have the ability to return from a deformed state (temporary shape) to their
original (permanent) shape induced by an external stimulus (trigger), such as
temperature change

17. • Aim of the work (objectives)
• Our project aims to use Shape-memory polymers (SMPs)
to indicate the change of human temperature because it
has significant change with temperature chang
Final Project:
Smart polymer to monitor human temperature

18. Smart polymer to monitor human
temperature
Hypothesis:
•The use of (SMPs) will decrease
high temperature risks

19. Smart polymer to monitor human temperature
Methods and Materials
• Properties of shape-memory polymers
• SMPs can retain two or sometimes three shapes, and the transition between those is induced by
temperature. In addition to temperature change. As well as polymers in general, SMPs also cover a
wide property-range from stable to biodegradable, from soft to hard, and from elastic to rigid,
depending on the structural units that constitute the SMP. SMPs are known to be able to store up to
three different shapes in memory.
Figure 1: A schematic representation of the shape-memory effect

20. Smart polymer to monitor human temperature
Results:
• Shape-memory polymers (SMPs) experience significant change
in volume with temperature change so they can be used widely
in hospitals , nurseries and schools

21. Acknowledgment
Many thanks to AL-Bairaq team , Center Advanced Materials (CAM), Qatar
University for every thing they gave us and teached us also by supporting us
during our journey with a AL-Bairaq.
Also, I would like to thank the sponsors UNESCO, Qatar National
Commission, and Shell.