Fabrication of cellulose/rectorite composite films for sustainable packaging.

In order to reduce the environmental pollution caused by plastic packaging, the development of biodegradable high-performance packaging materials has become a research hotspot. Cellulose is a promising food packaging material, but it usually lacks sufficient ultraviolet (UV) shielding property and mechanical strength. In this work, rectorite microplates were incorporated into the cellulose matrix by a facile blending method to fabricate the composite films. The structure and properties of the composite films were characterized by FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV–vis and mechanical properties test etc. The results indicated that rectorite microplates were uniformly distributed in the cellulose matrix. The blocking percentages for UVA and UVB for the cellulose/rectorite composite film with 14 wt% rectorite content (RCRF-14) could reach as high as 97.8 % and 96.0 %, respectively, showing a good UV shielding property. Meanwhile, the addition of rectorite obviously improved the mechanical properties and decreased the water vapor and oxygen permeabilities of the cellulose film, showing a potential application as a sustainable food packaging material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]