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Department of Food Science and Technology, Industrial Agricultural Products Center, University of Nebraska,
208 L.W. Chase Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0730, USA
Industrial Agricultural Products Center, University of Nebraska, 208 L.W. Chase Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0730, USA
c Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska, 824 Hamilton Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0304, USA
Received 27 October 2003; accepted 17 March 2004
Abstract
Chitosan film has potential applications in agriculture, food, and pharmacy. However, films made only from chitosan lack
water resistance and have poor mechanical properties. Forming miscible, biodegradable composite film from chitosan with other
hydrophilic biopolymers is an alternative. The objective of this study was to prepare chitosan/starch composite films by combining
chitosan (deacetylated degree, 90%) solution and two thermally gelatinized cornstarches (waxy starch and regular starch with 25%
amylose). The films tensile strength (TS), elongation-at-break (E), and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) were investigated.
The possible interactions between the two major components were evaluated by X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared
spectroscopy (FTIR). Regardless of starch type, both the TS and E of the composite films first increased and then decreased with
starch addition. Composite film made with regular starch showed higher TS and E than those with waxy starch. The addition
of starch decreased WVTRs of the composite films. The introduction of gelatinized starch suppressed the crystalline peaks of
chitosan film. The amino group band of chitosan molecule in the FTIR spectrum shifted from 1578 cm1 in the chitosan film to
1584 cm1 in composite films. These results indicated that there was a molecular miscibility between these two components.
2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Chitosanstarch films; Mechanical properties; Water resistance; Miscibility
1. Introduction
0926-6690/$ see front matter 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2004.03.002
186
Compositions
Chitosan solution
(2%, w/v) (ml)
Starch solution
(w/v) (ml)
Glycerin
(g)
0
0.5:1
1:1
1.5:1
2:1
200
100
100
100
100
0
100
100
100
100
1.00
0.75
1.00
1.25
1.50
of
of
of
of
1%
2%
3%
4%
187
188
(a)
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
(b)
70
Elongation (%)
60
50
40
30
20
10
2.
h)
(c)
60
55
50
45
40
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Fig. 1. Effects of starch ratios on (a) tensile strengths (TS), (b) elongation-at-breaks (E), and (c) water vapor transmission rates (WVTR)
of the composite films (solid symbol denotes regular cornstarch (25% amylose) and open symbol denotes waxy cornstarch (100%
amylopectin)).
189
190
Fig. 2. X-ray patterns for (a) chitosan/regular starch composite films and (b) chitosan/waxy starch composite films.
1741
chitosan
Transmittance (%)
191
3351
1655
2923
1578
starch
1648
2929
763
1458
1136
341 3
chi tosan- starch
2923
1584
3314
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
-1
Wavenumbers ( cm )
Fig. 3. Attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectra of chitosan film, starch film, and typical chitosan/regular starch composite film with the
ratio of starch to chitosan of 1:1.
4. Conclusion
References
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Sara Basiaga, Chemistry Department, University of Nebraska for her assistance with
the FTIR measurements. We also thank Mr. Brian
Jones of the Physics Department for the use of X-ray
diffractometer.
192