A study of the biophysical properties of polystyrene films incorporated with clove oil as bio-based plasticizer.

Abstract

. Polystyrene based films loaded with different concentrations of clove oil (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 wt.%) were prepared using solution casting technique. The properties of the novel composites are characterized using dielectric spectroscopy (DS), attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD),UV absorption spectra, contact angle measurements, mechanical analysis, in addition to test the anti-bacterial effect of the composites against two strains of microorganisms: Escherichia coli(gram-negative bacteria) and Staphylococcus aureus (gram-positive bacteria). According to dielectric study, by increasing the CLO content both The permittivity ', dielectric loss  and the electrical conductivity  increases. The contact angle measurements indicate that, the PS-CLO films demonstrate hydrophilic behavior compared to the pure PS. Tensile strength R values decreased by increasing CLO content and elongation at break R values were found to be increased. The increase in R may be due to the softening effect of CLO. The incorporation of the clove oil improved the light transmittance of the films. PS-CLO 40% sample have antibacterial activity against both E. coli and S. aureus.