Done by Leaders group from almaha Academy for boys. Under supervision of AL-Bairaq

1. AL-BAIRAQ
I AM DISCOVERING MATERIALS
BIODEGRADABLE MATERIALS
Leaders
Ali Al-Maadeed Hamad Al-Thani

2. Outline
• Introduction
• Activity 1: Comparing Packing Materials
• Activity 2: Hunting for Biodegradable objects
• Activity 3: Processing biodegradable
materials and comparing their mechanical
properties
• Activity 4: Measuring the degradation rates
of biodegradable materials
• Design Project: Designing a medicine release
capsule
• Product Idea: BiodegradableTea pouches

3. Introduction
•We are investigating biodegradable
materials but what are
biodegradable materials?
Biodegradable materials are
materials that decompose in the wild
naturally, quickly and doesn’t harm
the environment in anyway.

4. Activity 1 Part A: Comparing
packing materials
• We got a green and white foam.
• We did not know which one was which so we put each
foam in a beaker to test which one would degrade.

5. • In a couple of minutes the green foam did not
compose whatsoever but the white foam decomposed
to form a little bit more water and bubbles.
• This is called hydrolysis.
• The white foam was made of corn starch and the
green foam was made from polystyrene.

6. Activity 1:Part B Comparing
packing materials
• We compared the protection of the biodegradable and non
biodegradable materials.
• We put non biodegradable foam in a Ziploc bag and in another
Ziploc bag we put biodegradable foam.
• We put an egg in the middle of each bag and dropped them at
same heights.

7.  At 1m both did not break.
At 2m both had been broken.
Both covered same protection but when the egg cracked the
biodegradable foam had decomposed offering no protection after the
egg had cracked while the non biodegradable foam had not changed
before and after the egg cracking.
Conclusion: While biodegradable foam is a lot better for the
environment it isn't suitable for long, overseas protection but the non
biodegradable foam does not change in any way after the effects of
rain or any organic materials containing bacteria as it does not
decompose. Both offer the same protection but any natural effects on
the package can cause the biodegradable foam to decompose.

8. Activity 2: Hunting for Biodegradable objects

9. Activity 3
Processing biodegradable materials and
comparing their mechanical properties
1. We labeled 3 beakers 5% m/v, 10% m/v, 20% m/v.
2. We put HCL and capsules accordingly.
3. We heated them up on a hot plate with 60 Celsius
4. We then let them cool over two days to get 5% and
10% films and one 20% gel

10. Activity 4 Measuring the degradation
rates of biodegradable materials
• We tested the degradation of biodegradable materials
in different solutions.
• Materials : Peanut starch, 5% film, 20% gel, Capsule
of gelatin.

12. Design project
Designing a medicine release capsule
• Put Sodium Alginate in a beaker
• Added drops of Food dye from a pipette
• Added the colored sodium alginate to calcium chloride
to make small ball capsules
• Put the ball capsules into Sodium Citrate to act like the
human digestive system.

13. Design project
Designing a medicine release capsule
• In this activity we noticed how the colour diffused into
the water and we learned how pills are used to
transfer the medicine into the body.

14. Product Idea:
Biodegradable tea pouches
•Tea making usually feels like waiting for the bus to
arrive. It’s very boring as you usually wait. We thought
of making a biodegradable tea pouches.
•We wanted to reduce any time and waste within this
process.
•We want to reduce any time wasted as life is short.
• We stumbled along this idea when we were thirsty
for some tea but we were bored because of waiting so
long.

15. Biodegradable tea pouches
Hypothesis:
•Id expect it to have a good
start as it has a lot of
convenience and should be
cheap. If advertised correctly
it can attract a huge global
audience.

16. Biodegradable tea pouches
Methods and Materials:
Materials: Caramelised sugar, beeswax container.
Method: Melt the beeswax down and shape it into
thin containers. Add the powder and caramelised
sugar inside the mold. So the bees wax can
contain the contents and allow it to cool so that
the beeswax hardens and shapes the packet

17. Biodegradable tea pouches
Results:
•It makes tea-making more convenient as
you do not need to get rid of any waste.
In can be applied in catering businesses or
even offices. It may cost about the same
or a little more expensive than the
current plastic pouches but is much
better for the environment

18. Biodegradable tea pouches
Recommendations:
• It can be used for many other packaging such as coffee powder or
powdered milk or even baby milk formula
• As of now it’s just in it’s simplest form maybe improve the
materials.
• We had trouble finding the correct material and how to form the
packaging. Sometimes the hardest of obstacles have the simplest
of solutions.

19. Conclusions :
I conclude from all these activities that
biodegradable materials are useful but there are
some things we would not want to compose. I
feel like I have benefited in such a way that I
learned new things that I had no idea about such
as the importance of biodegradable materials in
industrial purposes and has improved my life.

20. Acknowledgment
Many thanks to my teachers, school and AL-Bairaq team
from Center forAdvanced Materials (CAM), Qatar
University for supporting us during our journey with a AL-
Bairaq.
Also, I would like to thank the sponsors UNESCO, Qatar
National Commission, Ras Gas, Maersk and Shell.