Abstract:
Plastic poses great hazard to our environment because of its non biodegradability as well as limited disposal methods. Ecofriendly biodegradable packaging is an excellent alternative to this. Biodegrable films based on PVA, starch and containing graphene oxide, in-situ and ex-situ reduced graphene oxide were sucessfully synthesized and tested for food packaging application. PVA and starch membrane having 0.4% wt/wt of in situ reduced graphene (PVA/St/IrGO20) showed exceptional mechanical properties i.e. tensile strength of 22.719 MPa and outstanding antibacterial activity exhibiting 38.89±0.23mm and 37.52±0.41mm zone of inhbition against Escherichia Coli and Staphylococcus Aureus respectively. PVA/starch membrane containg 0.2% wt/wt of ex situ reduced graphene oxide (PVA/St/XrGO10) showed comparable results. Surface morphology of the membranes confirmed that they were dense having no obvious pores. The synthesized membranes degraded almost completely after being buried in soil for just a single day. Among all the synthesized membranes, PVA/St/IrGO20 and PVA/St/XrGO10 prolonged the shelf life of packed Phyllanthus emblica since they acted as an excellent water vapor and gas barrier. After a number of tests, it was concluded that PVA/St/IrGO20 membranes showed remarkable antibacterial, thermal and barrier properties
