Abstract
Eco-friendly cellulose nanocrystal/silver/alginate (CNC/Ag/Alg) bionanocomposite films were successfully prepared by blending of CNC with Ag/Alg solution. The CNC was fabricated from cellulose microcrystal (CMC) by acid hydrolysis method. The Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) were generated by using Alg as a reducing agent through hydrothermal process. AgNPs-included composite films showed characteristic plasmonic effect of the AgNPs with the maximum absorption at 491 nm and they also showed high ultraviolet (UV) barrier properties. The CNC/Ag/Alg composite films were analyzed by using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, optical microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction technique. Depending on the type of nanofillers, tensile strength of the composite films increased by 39–57% and water vapor permeation decreased by 17–36% compared with those of the neat Alg films. The Ag/Alg and CNC/Ag/Alg films showed brown color as detected from the increase of both ‘b’ and ‘a’ parameters by colorimeter. The UV and water barrier properties of Alg based composite films were found higher than the Alg films. The obtained results suggested that the prepared composite films can be used in food packaging applications.
Highlights
Plastic packaging films including poly(vinyl chloride), polyethylene, and polypropylene are widely utilized in the market owing to many advantages, such as low price, light weight, good mechanical performance, and water resistance
After Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) was added to Alg, the peaks at 3409–3404 (O–H stretching vibration), 1606–1602, and 1413–1410 cm−1 sharpened, thereby proving the miscibility [39] between CNC and Alg
The needle-shaped CNC was prepared from cellulose microcrystal (CMC) using acid hydrolysis and was used as reinforcement materials in bionanocomposites on the basis of Ag/Alg mixture
Summary
Plastic packaging films including poly(vinyl chloride), polyethylene, and polypropylene are widely utilized in the market owing to many advantages, such as low price, light weight, good mechanical performance, and water resistance. Such films cause waste disposal problems in environment due to its non-biodegradable nature [1]. Alg is derived from brown seaweed [5] and consists of a linear block co-polymer of 1,4-linked β-d-mannuronic and α-l-guluronic residues in varying proportions It is commonly used in food and biotechnology industries because of its biocompatible, low-cost, abundantly available, and environmentally friendly nature. The food packaging nature of Alg films with others fillers incorporation was studied by other researchers [20,21,22]
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