Fabrication and characterization of thick films made of chitosan and nanofibrillar cellulose derived from pineapple leaf

Research on the development of natural polymers is becoming increasingly important because of environmental reasons. In this study, the thick films manufactured using chitosan and reinforced with nanofibrillar cellulose that is derived from pineapple fibers have been successfully fabricated. Nanofibrillar cellulose is obtained by isolating the cellulose from pineapple fibers through chemical treatments and ultra-fine grinding. Thick chitosan-nanocellulose composite films are prepared by mixing the nanocellulose with a chitosan solution at concentrations of 1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, and 10%. The structures and properties of the obtained films are examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ultraviolet and Visible (UV/Vis) spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Characterization of the optical properties of the materials by UV/Vis techniques exhibit that the highest transparency can be achieved using 3% nanocellulose. This result is also related to the XRD spectra, which depict that the addition of 1%-3% nanocellulose can effectively increase the degree of crystallinity of the composite films. These results prove that the addition of nanocellulose to a chitosan matrix depicts a good potential to improve the properties of composite films and that these films can be used as biodegradable packaging plastics.