Green nanocomposite made with chitin and bamboo nanofibers and its mechanical, thermal and biodegradable properties for food packaging.

This paper reports a green nanocomposite made by simply blending chitin nanofibers and bamboo cellulose nanofibers without chemically dissolving chitin and cellulose raw materials. Good biodegradability and biocompatibility of chitin in conjunction with good mechanical properties of cellulose are beneficial for developing green nanocomposite applicable for food packaging. The bamboo cellulose nanofiber (BACNF) is isolated by using a TEMPO-oxidation followed by an aqueous counter collision (ACC) method. Chitin nanofiber (CTNF) is isolated by using the ACC method. A simple blending is used to prepare the nanocomposite with different CTNF and BACNF concentration. Morphologies, mechanical properties, chemical interactions, thermal properties, water contact angles and biodegradability of the nanocomposite are investigated. The tensile strength and Young's modulus of the prepared nanocomposite increased up to 3 and 1.3 times, respectively as the BACNF concentration increase. The nanocomposite exhibites better thermal stability than the pure BACNF. Furthermore, the nanocomposite is fully biodegradable within a week. Good mechanical, thermal properties as well as biodegradability of the nanocomposite are promising for possible food packaging application.