Preparation and Characterization of Chitosan—Agarose Composite Films

Nowadays, there is a growing interest to develop biodegradable functional composite materials for food packaging and biomedicine applications from renewable sources. Some composite films were prepared by the casting method using chitosan (CS) and agarose (AG) in different mass ratios. The composite films were analyzed for physical-chemical-mechanical properties including tensile strength (TS), elongation-at-break (EB), water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), swelling ratio, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and morphology observations. The antibacterial properties of the composite films were also evaluated. The obtained results reveal that an addition of AG in varied proportions to a CS solution leads to an enhancement of the composite film's tensile strength, elongation-at-break, and water vapor transmission rate. The composite film with an agarose mass concentration of 60% was of the highest water uptake capacity. These improvements can be explained by the chemical structures of the new composite films, which contain hydrogen bonding interactions between the chitosan and agarose as shown by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis and the micro-pore structures as observed with optical microscopes and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The antibacterial results demonstrated that the films with agarose mass concentrations ranging from 0% to 60% possessed antibacterial properties. These results indicate that these composite films, especially the composite film with an agarose mass concentration of 60%, exhibit excellent potential to be used in food packaging and biomedical materials.