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Elaboration and properties of plasticised chitosan-based exfoliated nano-biocomposites

Lookup NU author(s): Professor David XieORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).


Abstract

A series of plasticised chitosan-based materials and nanocomposites were successfully prepared by thermomechanical kneading. During the processing, the montmorillonite (MMT) platelets were fully delaminated. The nanoclay type and content and the preparation method were seen to have an impact on the crystallinity, morphology, glass transition temperature, and mechanical properties of the samples. When higher content (5%) of MMT–Na+ or either content (2.5% or 5%) of chitosan-organomodified MMT (OMMT–Ch) was used, increases in crystallinity and glass transition temperature were observed. Compared to the neat chitosan, the plasticised chitosan-based nano-biocomposites showed drastically improved mechanical properties, which can be ascribed to the excellent dispersion and exfoliation of nanoclay and the strong affinity between the nanoclay and the chitosan matrix. The best mechanical properties obtained were Young's modulus of 164.3 MPa, tensile strength of 13.9 MPa, elongation at break of 62.1%, and energy at break of 0.671 MPa. While the degree of biodegradation was obviously increased by the presence of glycerol, a further increase might be observed especially by the addition of unmodified nanoclay. This could surprisingly contribute to full (100%) biodegradation after 160 days despite the well-known antimicrobial property of chitosan. The results in this study demonstrate the great potential of plasticised chitosan-based nano-biocomposites in applications such as e.g., biodegradable packaging materials.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Xie DF, Martino VP, Sangwan P, Way C, Pollet E, Dean KM, Halley PJ, Avérous L

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Polymer

Year: 2013

Volume: 54

Issue: 14

Pages: 3654-3662

Print publication date: 21/06/2013

Online publication date: 14/05/2013

Date deposited: 10/10/2023

ISSN (print): 0032-3861

ISSN (electronic): 1873-2291

Publisher: Elsevier

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2013.05.017

DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2013.05.017


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