Pedalium murex plant-based bioplasticizer reinforced polylactic acid films: A promising approach for biodegradable fruit packaging applications.

The most likely materials for use in packaging are plastics. A lot of synthetic polymers are harming the environment. A plasticizer is required for all polymers to improve their characteristics and workability. The plasticizers come in liquid form and are also derived from fossil fuels, which are harmful to the environment. Producing functional and affordable biopolymer for packaging applications is a difficult task nowadays. The preparation of biofilm for packaging using biopolymer and bioplasticizer is the main aim of this work. The biopolymer poly L-lactic acid (PLA) is used, and the bio plasticizer is extracted from Pedalium murex plant. Chemical and mechanical methods are used to extract the plasticizer. Plasticization of polylactic acid biopolymer was done using the extracted plasticizer at additions of 1 %, 2 %, 3 %, 4 %, and 5 %. FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, and surface roughness values are used to characterise the prepared biofilms. Scanning electron spectroscopy pictures are utilised to evaluate the morphological orientation of the biofilms. Strawberries packed with biofilms are used to evaluate the barrier properties of biofilms using UV spectroscopy analysis. Thermal degradation behaviour is investigated using thermo gravimetric analysis. We examined the mechanical characteristics, such as tensile strength, elongation modulus, and elongation break percentage. The plasticizing effect of the plasticizer raises the elongation break percentage while decreasing the tensile strength and modulus. For 2 % plasticizer addition the elongation break increases and the tensile not much affected. To demonstrate biodegradability and microbial resistance, the soil degradation behaviour and antimicrobial activities were examined.

Facile exfoliation and physicochemical characterization of Thespesia populnea plant leaves based bioplasticizer macromolecules reinforced with polylactic acid biofilms for packaging applications.

Plasticizers are active ingredients added to the polymer to increase its workability. Since synthetic plasticizer is not ecofriendly and toxic in nature, it is a real cause for concern. On this basis, our study focuses on plasticizer extraction from plant-based resources. In this research work, Thespesia populnea leaves are utilized for the isolation of biological macromolecules with a plasticizing effect for biofilm applications. This extraction process is done through solvent extraction, amination, slow pyrolysis, and surface catalysis process. The physico-chemical and microstructural characterization of novel plasticizer particles were studied for the first time. The lower crystallinity index and crystalline size obtained from X-ray diffraction is 50.08 % and 20.45 nm respectively. Energy dispersive spectroscopy, particle sizer analysis, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy are used to assess surface morphology of this plasticizer. The thermogram and differential thermal analysis curves give the information about degradation behavior of plasticizers and their thermal stability. The glass transition temperature of the extracted plasticizer is 60.56 °C. The plasticizing effect of the plasticizer is studied through film fabrication of polylactic acid which was blended with the extracted plasticizer. The mechanical property of biofilm was improved with the addition of plasticizer. The elongation break percentage (for 5 % plasticizer 46.12 %) was increased compared to others with moderate tensile strength. However, the tensile and elongation modulus decreases with the increase of plasticizer content. The crystallinity of the PLA film was improved after the plasticization. The thermal stability also increased with 3 % addition of the plasticizer. The isolated plasticizer was soluble in water and its molecular weight ≈380.