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Plastic pollution is a significant concern nowadays due to wastes generated from non-biodegradable and non-renewable synthetic materials. In particular, most plastic food packaging material ends up in landfills, creating mass wastes that clog the drainage system and pollute the ocean. Thus, studies on various biopolymers have been promoted to replace synthetic polymers in food packaging and consequently, the high number of research in biopolymers food packaging, especially in the characterization, properties and also the development of the biopolymer. For biopolymer-based food packaging, silk fibroin (SF) has been highlighted because of its biodegradability and low water vapor permeability properties. This review focuses on the different properties of SF films prepared through solution casting and electrospinning for food packaging. Discussions encompassed chemical properties, mechanical properties, permeability, and biodegradability. This review also discussed the studies that used SF as the biomaterial for food packaging.

In this study, the effect of maleic anhydride grafted styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS-g-MA) content on mechani- cal, thermal, and morphological properties of polyethylene terephthalate/polycarbonate/halloysite nanotubes (PET/PC/HNTs) nano- composites has been investigated. Nanocomposites of PET/PC (70:30) with 2 phr of HNTs were compounded using the counter rotating twin screw extruder. A series of formulations were prepared by adding 5-20 phr SEBS-g-MA to the composites. Incorpora- tion of 5 phr SEBS-g-MA into the nanocomposites resulted in the highest tensile and flexural strength. Maximum improvement in the impact strength which is 245% was achieved at 10 phr SEBS-g-MA content. The elongation at break increased proportionately with the SEBS-g-MA content. However, the tensile and flexural moduli decreased with increasing SEBS-g-MA content. Scanning elec- tron microscopy revealed a transition from a brittle fracture to ductile fracture morphology with increasing amount of SEBS-g-MA. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the addition of SEBS-g-MA into the nanocomposites promoted a better dispersion of HNTs in the matrix. A single glass transition temperature was observed from the differential scanning calorimetry test for compatibi- lized nanocomposites. Thermogravimetric analysis of PET/PC/HNTs nanocomposites showed high thermal stability at 15 phr SEBS-g- MA content. However, on further addition of SEBS-g-MA up to 20 phr, thermal stability of the nanocomposites decreased due to the excess amount of SEBS-g-MA. V C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 42608.

A series of polyamide 6/polypropylene (PA6/PP) blends and nanocomposites containing 4 wt% of organophilic modified montmorillonite (MMT) were designed and prepared by melt compounding followed by injection molding. Maleic anhydride polyethylene octene elastomer (POEgMAH) was used as impact modifier as well as compatibilizer in the blend system. Three weight ratios of PA6/PP blends were prepared i.e. 80:20, 70:30, and 60:40. The mechanical properties of PA6/PP blends and nanocomposite were studied through flexural and impact properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the microstructure. The incorporation of 10 wt% POEgMAH into PA6/PP blends significantly increased the toughness with a corresponding reduction in strength and stiffness. However, on further addition of 4 wt% organoclay, the strength and modulus increased but with a sacrifice in impact strength. It was also found that the mechanical properties are a function of blend ratio with 70:30 PA6/PP having the highest impact strength, both for blends and nanocomposites. The morphological study revealed that within the blend ratio studied, the higher the PA6 content, the finer were the POEgMAH particles.