Cellulose nanocrystals from coffee silverskin in polylactic acid-based nanocomposite films through extrusion process
2nd International Conference on Food & Beverage Packaging
June 13-14, 2016 Rome, Italy

Soo Hyun Sung, Inyoung Choi and Jaejoon Han

Korea University, Korea

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Food Process Technol

Abstract:

Bio-nanocomposite films based on polylactic acid (PLA) matrix reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) were developed using a twin-screw extruder. The CNCs were extracted from coffee silverskin which is the by-product in coffee roasting process, by alkali treament followed by sulfuric acid hydrolysis. Those were used as surface-modified CNCs by adsorption of polyethylene glycol (PEG) onto CNC to obtain PLA/CNC-PEG nanocomposite films by adding at different concentrations (1, 2 and 5% CNC-PEG, w/w). PEG was used not only as plasticizer but as compatibilizer to improve CNC dispersion within PLA matrix. Morphological properties, tensile properties and water vapor permeability (WVP) of the bio-nanocomposite films were analyzed. Thermal analysis was also investigated for the change of thermal properties during melting and crystallization process. The tensile strength and elongation-atbreak increased in both 1% and 2% of CNC-PEG and the WVP decreased gradually with increasing the addition of CNC-PEG up to 2%. These results suggest that CNCs from coffee silverskin can surely improve physical properties of PLA-based biopolymer film. The developed PLA/CNC-PEG bio-nanocomposite films can potentially be used for food packaging materials with improved barrier and mechanical properties.

Biography :

Soo Hyun Sung has her academic background in Food Biosciences and Technology. She is a Master’s student with Professor Jaejoon Han at Korea University. Her research focuses on the development of biomass-based bioplastic materials for food packaging.

Email: soosung@korea.ac.kr