White Ginger Nanocellulose as Effective Reinforcement and Antimicrobial Polyvinyl Alcohol/ZnO Hybrid Biocomposite Films Additive for Food Packaging Applications
Dieter Rahmadiawan, Hairul Abral, Wahyu Hidayat Yesa, Dian Handayani, Neny Sandrawati, Eni Sugiarti, Ahmad Novi Muslimin, S.M. Sapuan, R.A. Ilyas
Abstract
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has been used in packaging applications due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, this non-toxic synthetic material belonging to a highly hydrophilic polymer has poor resistance to wet environments, no antibacterial activity, and low tensile and thermal properties. This study aims to prepare and characterize a PVA-based biocomposite film mixed with antimicrobial white ginger nanocellulose (GCNF) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles. The film was processed using GCNF (0.1 g) or/and ZnO nanoparticles (0.5 g). The results confirm that the GCNF/ZnO/PVA-based film presents the strongest antimicrobial activity and the highest thermal resistance. This film also had the best value in tensile strength (19.7 MPa) and modulus (253.1 MPa); 63.9% and 117.9%, respectively higher than purce PVA. Its elongation at break was 56.6%, not statistically significantly different from the pure PVA film. Thus, this PVA-based hybrid biocomposite film reinforced by GCNF and ZnO has excellent potential for fresh food packaging in industrial applications.