A study of the biophysical properties of polystyrene films incorporated with clove oil as bio-based plasticizer

Abstract

Polystyrene based films loaded with different concentrations of clove oil (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 wt.%) were prepared using solution casting technique. The properties of the novel composites are characterized using dielectric spectroscopy (DS), attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD),UV absorption spectra, contact angle measurements, mechanical analysis, in addition to test the antibacterial effect of the composites against two strains of microorganisms: Escherichia coli(gram-negative bacteria) and Staphylococcus aureus (gram-positive bacteria). According to dielectric study, by increasing the CLO content both The permittivity ϵ′, dielectric loss ϵ″ and the electrical conductivity σ increases. The contact angle measurements indicate that, the PS-CLO films demonstrate hydrophilic behavior compared to the pure PS. Tensile strength σR values decreased by increasing CLO content and elongation at break ϵR values were found to be increased. The increase in ϵR may be due to the softening effect of CLO. The incorporation of the clove oil improved the light transmittance of the films. PS-CLO 40% sample have antibacterial activity against both E. coli and S. aureus.