Abstract
The aim of the present investigation was to develop Acacia lignin-gelatin (LG) blended films using glycerol as plasticizer and to establish correlation between lignin contents and structure, thermal and mechanical properties of the film. Acacia lignin extracted by alkali method was used for the preparation of LG blended films by solution casting method. Solubility and swelling tests of the films concluded that the lignin incorporation reduced water affinity of film. Lignin incorporation produces a noticeable plasticizing effect on the blended film, showing optimum values for film incorporated with 20 and 30 % (w/v) lignin, as deduced from their mechanical and thermal properties. Lignin blended film had lower glass transition temperatures (T g) as compared to control gelatin. Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis of films suggested that lignin interacts with gelatin by hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction consequently creating conformational changes. Atomic force microscopic (AFM) study displays smooth surface of synthesized films. Light barrier properties of film revealed that the lignin addition improved barrier properties against UV light in the range of 280–350 nm. Furthermore, the lowest scavenging activity was observed in LG-E (111.10 µg/ml) trailed by LG-D (249.29 µg/ml) and LG-C (259.53 µg/ml). The LG films showed improved light barrier and antioxidant properties with low cytotoxicity, displaying great potential in food packaging and coating for preventing ultraviolet induced lipid oxidation with an extended biomedical applications.
Highlights
The aim of the present investigation was to develop Acacia lignin-gelatin (LG) blended films using glycerol as plasticizer and to establish correlation between lignin contents and structure, thermal and mechanical properties of the film
The films obtained from different ratios of lignin-gelatin preparations were homogeneous, flexible, handled, non-sticky and partially soluble in water after 24 h at 25 °C
The moisture content ranged between 8.96 % (LG-A) to 16.43 % (LG-D) and 16.2 % (LG-E) among the film
Summary
The aim of the present investigation was to develop Acacia lignin-gelatin (LG) blended films using glycerol as plasticizer and to establish correlation between lignin contents and structure, thermal and mechanical properties of the film. Gelatin is a protein and an important biopolymer with a wide range of functional properties, such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, film forming, and gelling (Cao et al 2007) It is derived from the chemical degradation of collagen, and mainly, consist of glycine, proline and 4-hydroxyproline (Pena et al 2010). It has a triple-helix structure stabilized mainly by the formation of inter-chain hydrogen bonds between carbonyl and amines groups (Rivero et al 2010). Gelatin is brittle in dry state with high moisture absorption due to tightly bound hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interaction and the polar groups of amino acids, present in the gelatin structure (Karnnet et al 2005) To overcome this problem, the addition of plasticizers and natural fillers
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