A new nanocomposite film based on gelatin and laponite

International Conference and Exhibition on Biopolymers & Bioplastics

August 10-12, 2015 San Francisco, USA

Paulo Jos�© do Amaral Sobral, Germ�¡n Ayala Valencia, Rodrigo Vinicius Louren�§o and Ana M�´nica Quinta Barbosa Bittante

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Material Sci Eng

Abstract :

Films based on biopolymers have attracted interest of researchers because they are biodegradable. But, these materials have
technological limitations principally due to the hygroscopic characteristic of biopolymers and plasticizers, usually, polyols.
An alternative to improve the properties of these materials are the use of nanoparticles as loading. Although montmorillonite is
the nanoparticle most used to produce biopolymers based nanocomposite films, laponite has an enormous potential because it is
easily dispersed in water, outstanding solvent in the biopolymer film technology. Thus, this work presents results of some physical
properties of recently developed nanocomposite films (NF) based ongelatin with different laponite concentrations. NF were prepared
with casting film-forming solutions containing 0.0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0 g laponite/100 g gelatin on an adequate support and dried on
controlled conditions. Glycerol was used as plasticizer. The NFs were characterized for gloss (60°), color (CIELab), thermal (TGA) and
mechanical (tensile tests) properties. Moreover, NFs were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). NFs were transparent and homogeneous. NF gloss, color andsurface micrographs
were not altered by the laponite concentration and laponite improved the thermal stability and mechanical properties (increasing
Young modulus and tensile strength) of the gelatin-laponite nanocomposites. These results indicated that laponite was well dispersed
in the biopolymer matrix. FTIR and XRD spectra corroborated with this statement. These nanocomposites have a great potential to
be used in the packaging industry.

Biography :

Paulo José do Amaral Sobral has completed his PhD in 1992 at ENSIC-INPL, France. Now, he is full Professor at University of São Paulo (USP), campus of
Pirassununga (SP), Brazil, where he is the Dean of the Faculty of Animal Science and Food Engineering (FZEA-USP). He has more than 15 years of experience
on biopolymers-based films technology, having published more than 130 papers in reputed journals (ISI h index= 25) and serving as an Editorial Board Member
insome journals, such as the Food Engineering Review. He is the Associate Editor of the International Journal of Food Studies.