title: Chitosan and gelatin based biodegradable packaging films with UV-light protection.
abstract: Biopolymers are polymers obtained from biological origins and used for various biological and industrial applications. A biopolymer should be non-toxic, non-antigenic, non-irritant, non-carcinogenic, sterilisable and adequately available for their widespread applications. In this study, chitosan (CS) and gelatin (GL) based films were prepared to be used as biodegradable packaging films. CS was blended with GL to improve various physicochemical properties. The blended CSGL films were crosslinked with boric acid (BA) to improve various properties viz. light barrier properties, Water Vapour Permeability (WVP), moisture content (%), Total Solubility Matter (TSM), most important to improve the strength. The studies of transparency, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and optical microscopy confirms that the synthesized films were found to be transparent and homogenous indicating good compatibility among different components. The synthesized CS and GL based films showed UV-light barrier properties as supported by data. The tensile strength of films increases, decreases water solubility, moisture content (%) and WVP on crosslinking. In order to make the crosslinked films more flexible, Polyethylene glycol was used as plasticizer, making the films more flexible and transparent. This study indicates that these biodegradable CS and GL based films are potent to be used as packing films.
authors: Bio/Polymers Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi 110025, India. Electronic address: shakeelchem11@gmail.com.
authors: Shakeel
authors: S
authors: Ahmed
authors: Bio/Polymers Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi 110025, India. Electronic address: sikram@jmi.ac.in.
authors: Saiqa
authors: S
authors: Ikram
mesh_terms: D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D010539:Permeability; D019064:Product Packaging; D012995:Solubility; D013227:Steam; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D013227:Steam; D005780:Gelatin; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Chitosan; Crosslinker; Films; Gelatin; Packaging; Plasticizer