Bionanocomposite films based on potato, tapioca starch and chitosan reinforced with cellulose nanofiber isolated from turmeric spent

© 2019 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers The aim of this research was to enhance the physicochemical properties of potato starch (PS), tapioca starch (TS) and chitosan (CS) based bionanocomposite films by incorporating with different levels of turmeric nanofiber (TNF). The TNF was prepared from turmeric spent by acid hydrolysis accompanied with high pressure homogenization. The morphology of the bionanocomposites was analyzed by SEM and it revealed their large aggregation cluster with dense structure through tightly packed TNF in the biocomposite films. The attainment of bionanocomposites due to the formation of fresh hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl groups of PS, TS and CS with TNF authenticated by FT-IR spectroscopy. XRD results exhibited the disappearances of peaks of TNF indicating the reinforcement of TNF in the prepared bionanocomposite matrixes. The tensile strength and Young's modulus of the bionanocomposites were improved tremendously through increasing TNF concentration due to the formation of starch-TNF and chitosan-TNF network. DSC data indicated the addition of TNF significantly increased the onset temperature, peak temperature and conclusion temperature of bionanocomposites; however, the enthalpy change values considerably decreased. The antibacterial test showed the bionanocomposites exhibited excellent antibacterial performance against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhimurium due to the addition of TNF in the biopolymer matrixes.