Chitosan dispersed PLA films for high gas barrier applications: An industrially viable approach

International Conference and Exhibition on Biopolymers & Bioplastics

August 10-12, 2015 San Francisco, USA

Vimal Katiyar and Akhilesh Kumar Pal

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Material Sci Eng

Abstract :

Biopolymers can be utilized to improve gas barrier properties of synthetic biodegradable polymers if it is dispersed effectively into
the polymer matrix. Chitosan, a co-polymer of D-glucosamine and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, is one of the versatile biopolymer
which can be utilized in various applications such as food packaging, biomedical, drug delivery, etc. In the present study, poly (lactic
acid) (PLA)/grafted chitosan bio-nanocomposite films (PLA/GCH) have been prepared by solution casting as well as melt extrusion
based industrially viable technique to achieve targeted barrier, thermal and mechanical properties. FESEM and TEM analysis
confirms the grafted chitosan is homogeneously dispersed in PLA matrix and forms core-shell morphology which helps in dispersion
of chitosan in PLA matrix. In result of chitosan master batch treatment in PLA matrix, oxygen permeability (OP) reduces up to 10
folds than that of neat PLA. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and young’s modulus (YM) decrease up to 18% and 55% respectively
but percentage elongation (%E) has been improved drastically up to 386% with increasing filler concentration.

Biography :

Vimal Katiyar is currently working as Associate Professor in Department of Chemical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. He has more
than 25 international publications and patents on poly lactic acid based technology in diversified area such as specialization in polylactic acid synthesis, industrial
level films and nanocomposites processing, biopolymer based nanofillers, migration, polymer modeling and polymer characterization. He is Team Leader of Center
of Excellence for Sustainable Polymers at IIT Guwahati.