Eco‐friendly materials produced by blown‐film extrusion as potential active food packaging

Abstract

Starch/polyester blends are potential substitutes for non‐degradable materials. Active food packaging was produced by the blown‐extrusion of starch/poly (butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT) blends added to α‐tocopherol (α‐TOC). The films showed adequate stability and processability by the blown‐extrusion method and were converted into an essentially amorphous and homogeneous material. The transparency and water vapor permeability of the films increased with the addition of α‐TOC. The antioxidant interfered in the organization of the polymeric matrix, which was confirmed by SEM images, resulting in lower tensile strength and elongation at break, with no interference due to the α‐TOC concentration. The inclusion of α‐TOC did not influence the thermal stability, and it increased the crystallinity of the samples. The formulation with the lowest concentrations of the antioxidant (T0.25) presented an almost complete release of α‐TOC, proving the efficiency of the films as active packaging. The complete degradation of the materials was proved by evaluating the composting of the films. The eco‐friendly films are promising materials for active food packaging.

Production and Characterization of Starch/PVA Blends with Bioactive Compounds from Malt Bagasse

“…The degradation temperatures for thermoplastic starch (TPS) are registered around 320 °C. [ 2,19 ] Considering this, it was concluded that the thermal events of PVA overlapped with those of starch, and a single peak at approximately 372 °C (dTG— Figure ) was observed as a coalescence of the peaks corresponding to the degradation temperatures of starch and PVA.…”

“…Considering the natural biodegradable materials, starch is particularly promising because of their availability, low cost, and abundance. [ 1,2 ] However, the poor mechanical properties and water sensitivity of the starch‐based materials remain a challenge to be overcome. The recent studies are focused in blended thermoplastic starch (TPS) with good performance biodegradable polymers, as PVA (poly(vinyl alcohol)), a synthetic polymer with excellent film forming ability, biodegradability, and mechanical properties.…”

Enhanced Mechanical Properties of Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)/Cellulose Nanocrystal Nanocomposites Obtained by In Situ Polymerization

“…As an actual manufacturing process involves a blown extrusion process to produce films, this study investigated the effect of CNC by preparing a film using a simplified process (Figure 5, Table S3). 50 No noticeable difference was found during blown film processing with or without CNCs, and clean films without any impurities were obtained.…”

Application and characterisation of industrial brewing by‐products in biodegradable starch‐based expanded composites

“…Bio‐based and biodegradable materials represent an alternative to reduce the environmental impact of the non‐degradable packaging, with technical and economic feasibility, and a large potential for expansion (Galgano et al ., 2015; Bergel et al ., 2018). Starch is often used as a raw material to produce biodegradable packaging due to its renewable nature, low cost and abundance, also providing safe, complete and effective soil biodegradation (Yang et al ., 2013; Reis et al ., 2018; Lopes et al ., 2020; Simões et al ., 2020). However, the materials based only in starch have certain disadvantages such as inferior mechanical performance and sensitivity to moisture, which requires the inclusion of different components to improve the performance of the materials (Versino et al ., 2016; Travalini et al ., 2019).…”