Incorporation of Extracted Mucor indicus Fungus Chitin Nanofibers into Starch Biopolymer: Morphological, Physical, and Mechanical EvaluationShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Starch, ISSN 0038-9056, Vol. 73, no 7-8, article id 2000218Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Sustainable development
According to the author(s), the content of this publication falls within the area of sustainable development.
Abstract [en]
Bio-nanocomposites based on starch are reinforced by different percentages of chitin nanofibers (ChNFs) and compatibilized by glycerol. Nanofibers are extracted from Mucor indicus fungus through different chemo-mechanical pretreatments. The mechnical, chemo-physical, and morphological properties of the nanocomposite starch films were evaluated and compared with the unfilled thermoplastic starch (TPS) film. Based on the obtained results, Young's modulus of the film at 5 wt.% ChNFs indicated 239% enhancement compared to the TPS film due to the existence of good interactions between starch and ChNFs. Moreover, the ultimate strength of the reinforced film at 5 wt.% ChNFs and the unreinforced counterpart are found to be 5.5 and 1.74 MPa, indicating 216% improvement; however, the elongation at break of the films decreases from 59.3% to 19.3% by adding 5 wt.% ChNFs. In addition, the moisture absorption of the film decreases after the incorporation of ChNFs. Based on the morphological study, ChNFs increase the roughness of the starch matrix with a homogenous morphology revealing the good dispersion of nanofibers in the TPS film. Finally, the nanocomposite film with 5 wt.% ChNFs show the best properties to employ for bio-film applications.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2021. Vol. 73, no 7-8, article id 2000218
Keywords [en]
chitin nanofibers, Mucor indicus, nanocomposites, starch
National Category
Polymer Technologies
Research subject
Resource Recovery
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-26035DOI: 10.1002/star.202000218ISI: 000642431800001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85109241082OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hb-26035DiVA, id: diva2:1579522
2021-07-092021-07-092021-10-21Bibliographically approved