Preparation and Characterization of Chitosan/clay Biodegradable Nanocomposite for Food Packaging Application

مجله پژوهشهای علوم و صنایع غذایی ایران

Article 9, Volume 7, Issue 1 - Serial Number 15, April 2011   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/ifstrj.v7i1.9367

Authors

Mehdi Abdollahi^{* 1}; Masoud Rezaei²; Gholam Ali Farzi³

¹Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Food Science and Nutrition, Chalmers University of Technology,

²Tarbiat Modares University

³-

Abstract

A bionanocomposite film was developed by nanoclay incorporation to chitosan films, using a solution casting method and the effects of nanoclay concentration (0.5, 1.0, and 3% w/w) on the physical and mechanical properties of the chitosan films were evaluated. Moreover, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, and fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) were used for studying microstructure and internal interaction of the chitosan-based films. It was found that the water vapor permeability and the water gain of the chitosan films decreased more than 45% with nanoclay incorporation up to 3%. Moreover nanoclay improved the tensile strength of the chitosan films about 20%. XRD and FTIR results confirmed that the improvements in the nanocomposite properties may be due to the exfoliation of the nanoparticles, good interaction between nanoclay and the functional groups of chitosan chains, and good cross links in polymeric matrix.

Keywords: Nonocomposite, Chitosan, Nanoclay, Mechanical properties