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Journal of Polymer & Composites Original Research Special issue

Fabrication and Analysis of PBAT/Cyperus Rotundus Micro Crystalline Cellulose Biofilms for Food Packaging Applications

  1. Kolappan Subramanian Department of Mechanical Engineering, Akshaya College of Engineering and Technology
  2. Krishnasamy Karthik Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr. Sagunthala R&D Institute of Science and Technology
  3. Chithras Thangavel Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SRM TRP Engineering college

Abstract

Global plastic waste crisis has gained an increasing attention and many efforts have been made recently to develop biodegradable polymers as food packaging alternatives. Solution casting is used for fabrication and characterization of reinforced polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) biofilm with Cyperus rotundus microcrystalline cellulose (CRC). PBAT-CRC biofilms with different CRC loadings (1%, and 2%) had been prepared and their structural, mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of fabricated biofilms were analyzed to identify the effect of the CRC incorporation. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that incorporating 2 wt.% CRC led to an increase in crystallinity of PBAT sample from 47.2% (Pure PBAT) to 56.4% (PBAT+2%CRC), pointing out that the molecular ordering as well as fibrillar structures were increased. A significant improvement in tensile strength of from 15.64 to 26.45 MPa and Young’s modulus of 9.56 Mpa to 14.37 MPa were observed in mechanical testing in support of CRC reinforcing effect. Maximum thermal degradation temperature was observed which is increased from 342.72°C to 367.24°C through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), showing better thermal resistance. The uniform dispersion of CRC was also confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and helped to increase structural cohesion within the polymer matrix. These findings claim that the biofilms of PBAT+2%CRC showed better mechanical and thermal properties and can therefore be used as eco-friendly and sustainable packaging food applications.

Keywords

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