studying the physicochemical properties of poly(lactic acid) based nanocomposite antioxidant active film

fatty acid modified cellulose nanofibers (mcnfs) and tbhq antioxidant were added to poly(lactic acid) (pla) film. the combined effects of the mcnfs and tbhq on the morphological, thermal, mechanical and barrier properties of pla film were analyzed. the morphology of fracture surfaces evaluated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (fe-sem). xrd results showed that the crystallinity of the pla film with added mcnfs was substantially higher than that of pure pla and antioxidant active pla films. glass transition and melting temperatures changed with the addition of these two components. the addition of 3wt% of tbhq to pla films leads to a significant reduction (p<0.05) of tensile strength from 10.52 to 6.03 mpa. however, mechanical stiffness of pla films improved significantly by addition of mcnfs. water vapor permeability and oxygen permeability increased and decreased significantly (p<0.05) by addition of tbhq and mcnfs respectively.