RESUMO
A facile and green route is introduced to fabricate antimicrobial composite films in this article from xylan (XL) and hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) with citric acid (CA) and polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG-400) as crosslinker and plasticizer, respectively. XL was obtained by precipitating wood hydrolysate (WH) produced during pulping process with ethanol. Antimicrobial activity was constructed by incorporating ß-cyclodextrin/sodium benzoate (ß-CD/NaBz) complex into the composite matrix. The interactions, including hydrogen bonds and covalent bonds, between the polymers were confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy. Morphology and crystallinity of composite films at different curing time were investigated by AFM and XRD, respectively. The composite film cured for 40â¯min exhibits tensile strength up to 62.3â¯MPa and oxygen permeability (OP) as low as 1.0â¯cm3·µmâ¯m-2·d-1·kPa-1. Finally, the antimicrobial test against Staphylococcus aureus reveals superior antimicrobial activity of composite films with complex. In conclusion, the XL/HEC antimicrobial film has great potential in the field of sustainable food packing materials.