![Sample our Physical Sciences journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/110819/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Physical-Sciences.jpg"})
Abstract
Recently, the demands of biodegradable plastic for mulching application have vastly increased due to environmental concern, conservation of soil health and ease of residue management after growing season. The raise in demands also reflected by the increased number of studies related to biodegradable plastic mulch in the past 10 years. Biodegradable plastic mulch film has emerged as a promising alternative material for mulching due to ease of installation, offers benefits comparable to polyethylene (PE) mulch film, in situ biodegradation and able to improve soil fertility. This review sheds light on recent advances in different formulations of plastic mulch film. Formulations based on single polymer, polymer blends and polymer composites of biodegradable natural and synthetic polymeric materials particularly for mulching application were discussed. Comprehensive discussions on the performance of different formulations used for mulching material are reviewed in this review article.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Universiti Sains Malaysia (Research University Grant No. 8014044) for the financial support and Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) for the scholarship granted to the first author. We would also like to thank Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering for the use of their facilities.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Authors' contributions
The main author contributes to the literature search, review and writing of this work. The corresponding author involve in checking the literatures and the writing.
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Maisara Azad Mat Akhir
Maisara A.M.A is a lecturer at Fakulti Teknologi Kejuruteraan Kimia, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) and currently on study leave to pursue her PhD study at School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia. She received her Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Manufacturing from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in 2013. She completed her Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 2016 in nanomaterials for sensor application. Her current research interests include nanocomposites and Polymer Matrix Composites (PMC) for agriculture application.
Mariatti Mustapha
Mariatti M. is a Professor at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). She has been working with composites since her Masters degree at USM. She began her career in 1996 as the Quality Engineer at Sony (M) Sdn. Bhd. Prof. Mariatti received her MSc in Polymer Technology and PhD in Polymer Composites from Universiti Sains Malaysia and Degree of Licentiate from Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. She is a professional engineer and she has published technical papers on various types of polymer composites for electronic application, mineral fillers- and fiber reinforced polymer composites