Polyvinyl alcohol flame retardant film based on halloysite nanotubes, chitosan and phytic acid with strong mechanical and anti-ultraviolet properties

Highly flame retardancy, barrier, mechanical and persistent antibacterial polylactic acid film with high-parallel interconnected thousand layered cake architecture

In this work, a bio-based material (CGP) is obtained by combing chitosan, gelatin and polyvinyl alcohol through a simple solution mixing to simultaneously address polylactic acid film (PLA)' flammability and poor barrier, toughness and antibacterial properties by soaking. The results of open fire testing show that modified PLA films can effectively prolong the combustion time, improve the thermal stability and reduce the release of heat in the cone calorimeter test. For the PLA sample after soaking for 5 times (PLA-5) in particular, it can reduce the peak heat release rate (pHRR) and total heat release (THR) values to 85.8 kW/m2 and 1.3 MJ/m2 from the values of 129.5 kW/m2 and 1.8 MJ/m2 for PLA, respectively. Structural analysis suggests that CGP primarily operates in the condensed phase by forming physical barriers. Meanwhile, the modified PLA films can exhibit superior barrier effects, which indicate the oxygen transmission rate value of PLA-5 decreases to 0.9 cm3/(m2·day) from the 392.5 cm3/(m2·day) of raw PLA film. Moreover, the PLA-5 also have excellent toughness (the value increased to 200.5 % from 31.0 %) and persistent antibacterial effects (it still has 100 % sterilization after 500 days).

Preparation of phosphorus-doped chitosan derivative and its applications in polylactic acid: Crystallization, flame retardancy, anti-dripping and mechanical properties

The topic of biobased flame-retardant PLA has always been of great interest. In our study, we successfully synthesized a phosphorus-containing chitosan derivative (PCS) and combined it with aluminum hypophosphate (AP) to create an effective flame-retardant PLA system. PCS acted as an enhancer, enhancing the thermal performance, crystallinity, and toughness of PLA/AP. Compared to PLA modified with 12 wt% AP achieving UL-94 V-2 level and 24.3 % of limited oxygen index, PLA containing 3 wt% PCS and 9 wt% AP achieved UL-94 V-0 level and limited oxygen index of 28 %. The system testing studies such as CCT, Raman, XPS, and TG-IR results indicated that PLA/AP/PCS exhibited a dual flame-retardant mechanism of condensed and gas phases.

A chitosan derivative/phytic acid polyelectrolyte complex endowing polyvinyl alcohol film with high barrier, flame-retardant, and antibacterial effects

Films with high barrier, flame-retardant, and antibacterial properties are beneficial in terms of food and logistics safety. Herein, a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) of N-(2-hydroxyl)-propyl-3-trimethylammonium chitosan chloride (HTCC, chitosan derivative) and phytic acid (PA) was successfully prepared and then incorporated into a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix to fabricate a composite film with satisfactory barrier, fire-retardant, and antibacterial properties. The influence of HTCC/PA (HTPA) on the structural, physical and functional properties of the PVA matrix was investigated. Compared with the PVA film, PVA-HTPA6 film exhibited 3.38 times of flexibility and 83.33 % and 80.64 % of water vapor permeability and oxygen permeability, respectively. Benefiting from HTPA, the PVA-HTPA6 film exhibited outstanding flame-retardant capacity, with a high LOI value (33.30 %) and immediate self-extinguishing behaviour. Furthermore, the HTPA endowed the films with excellent antibacterial properties. Compared with other films, the PVA-HTPA6 film effectively maintained the quality of pork during storage at 4 °C for 9 days. Our findings indicate that the films are promising for packaging and logistics safety with oil-containing foods.