Investigation of the optical properties of chitosan and rice starch blends, as a filler in paper or as a film for packaging applications

Abstract

Bio based materials fall under the broad category of bio-products or bio-based products, which includes materials, chemicals and energy derived from renewable biological resources. This research shows the preparation of both, paper sheets with blend fillers of chitosan and rice starch and chitosan and rice starch films, which could be used as packaging material for a variety of applications. In this research, we used a blend mixture, different concentrations of chitosan and rice starch both in paper production and in films to investigate the optical properties of the obtained materials with a combination of ultrasonic treatment during the film formation. The research showed that the optical properties of the obtained packaging materials improved. It also showed that blend fillers of chitosan and rice starch are effective paper fillers in the preparation of cellulose mixture for bio based packaging materials and the optical properties are with slight changes. The investigation on the optical properties of the obtained paper samples during accelerated thermal showed that the ageing of paper with addition of chitosan and chitosan and rice starch blends had the same behaviour through the 72 hours of ageing. The ultrasonic treatment of the films improved transparency. The surface at untreated blend film was more uneven compared to chitosan and rice starch films, which improved after the treatment.