Development and Physicochemical Studies of Various Blends of Modified Chitosan Cellulose Based Bionanocomposites

Abstract

newline Bionanocomposites are a new class of nano-structured hybrid materials. These bionanocomposites can be developed by mixing natural polymers with synthetic polymers, inorganic solid materials, or a mixture of both at the nanometer scale. The ubiquitous usage of petroleum-based synthetic plastics and their harmful persistence in the environment, encourage the researchers to develop novel and eco-friendly bionanocomposites derived from biodegradable and renewable resources. Various naturally occurring polymers such as starch, cellulose, alginate, cellulose, chitin, chitosan, pectin, gelatin, and to name a few in the development of bionanocomposites for diverse applications. Among them, chitosan has been focused to prepare bionanocomposite films. It possesses several multidimensional properties including biodegradability, biocompatibility, antibacterial activity, and non-toxicity. But its poor solubility and low mechanical strength have restricted its usage for a wide variety of applications. Therefore, these problems can be circumvented by blending it with other biopolymers namely cellulose. Several characterization techniques were used to evaluate the modified chitosan-cellulose acetate-based nanocomposite films, including Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), water contact angle, water absorption capacity, moisture content, water solubility, opacity, tensile strength, elongation at break, thickness, and so on. FT-IR analysis demonstrated the interaction between negatively charged bentonite with positively charged chitosan. Additionally, the surface morphology and thermal characteristics of bionanocomposite films were investigated using SEM and TGA or DSC, respectively.