| Abstrakt: |
Petroleum-derived packaging materials commonly lack biodegradability, posing significant environmental and health concerns. As a result, there is a growing focus among researchers on developing innovative, biodegradable, and safe food packaging films. In this study, films based on a natural biopolymer gellan gum (GG) reinforced with chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) were developed using a solvent casting technique. The CNPs, with an average size of 34 nm, were synthesized via ionic gelation using sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) as a gelating agent. The structure–property relationship of these bionanocomposite films was examined by analyzing their microstructure, thermal behavior, mechanical strength, UV resistance, optical properties, and water barrier characteristics. Compared to pure GG films, the composite films exhibited improved thermal stability, mechanical strength, and barrier properties against water and UV radiation. Increasing the CNPs loading from 0 to 9 wt% resulted in decreased transparency and optical band gaps, from 87.73 to 42.15 and from 5.6048 to 5.3706 eV, respectively. Notably, GG films loaded with 1 wt% CNPs demonstrated the highest tensile strength and thermal stability. Moreover, water absorption, water vapor permeability, and equilibrium moisture content decreased as CNPs loading increased from 0 to 9 wt%. These findings suggest the potential of GG/CNP bionanocomposite films as sustainable packaging materials for the food industry. |
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