Effect of glutaraldehyde/glycerol ratios on the properties of chitosan films

Abstract

Chitosan is a biodegradable polymer and could be applied as packaging. To make chitosan more competitive, plasticizers and cross-linking agents are added in films. The aim of this paper was to obtain and characterize films of chitosan without or with glutaraldehyde (0; 0.99 mg/150 ml) in different concentrations of glycerol (0, 10, 20, and 30%w/w), for improving the properties like tensile resistance and the water vapor permeability. The films were homogeneous, without phase separation, and with a similar chemical structure. The glutaraldehyde makes the chitosan partly hydrophobic, leading to glycerol saturation in samples with glutaraldehyde and 20 or 30% of glycerol. The Principal Component Analysis for the film with glutaraldehyde and 10% of glycerol presented 3.60 g.mm/kPa.day.m2 of water vapor permeability and 36.96 MPa of tensile resistance. The use of plasticizer and cross-linking in combination is promising to make chitosan film more competitive on the market of packaging.