Tensile and Surface Wettability Properties of the Solvent Cast Cellulose Fatty Acid Ester Films

Thermoplastic cellulose esters are promising materials for bioplastic packaging. For that usage, it is important to understand their mechanical and surface wettability properties. In this study, a series of cellulose esters are prepared, such as laurate, myristate, palmitate, and stearate. The aim o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polymers 2023-06, Vol.15 (12), p.2677
Main Authors: Kallakas, Heikko, Kattamanchi, Tanuj, Kilumets, Catherine, Tarasova, Elvira, Krasnou, Illia, Savest, Natalja, Ahmadian, Iman, Kers, Jaan, Krumme, Andres
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acylation
Bioplastics
Biopolymers
Cellulose
Cellulose acetate
Cellulose esters
Contact angle
Crystalline cellulose
Dielectric films
Ethanol
Fatty acids
Hydrophobicity
Ions
Mechanical properties
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Packaging
Polyethylene
Solvents
Spectrum analysis
Synthesis
Tensile strength
Tensile tests
Thermoplastics
Thin films
Viscosity
Wettability
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Summary:Thermoplastic cellulose esters are promising materials for bioplastic packaging. For that usage, it is important to understand their mechanical and surface wettability properties. In this study, a series of cellulose esters are prepared, such as laurate, myristate, palmitate, and stearate. The aim of the study is to investigate the tensile and surface wettability properties of the synthesized cellulose fatty acid esters to understand their suitability as a bioplastic packaging material. Cellulose fatty acid esters are first synthesized from microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), then dissolved in pyridine solution, and after the solvent cast into thin films. The cellulose fatty acid ester acylation process is characterized by the FTIR method. Cellulose esters hydrophobicity is evaluated with contact angle measurements. The mechanical properties of the films are tested with the tensile test. For all the synthesized films, FTIR provides clear evidence of acylation by showing the presence of characteristic peaks. Films' mechanical properties are comparable to those of generally used plastics such as LDPE and HDPE. Furthermore, it appears that with an increase in the side-chain length, the water barrier properties showed improvement. These results show that they could potentially be suitable materials for films and packaging materials.
ISSN:2073-4360
2073-4360
DOI:10.3390/polym15122677