In the present work, cellulose whiskers have been fabricated from water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), pine needles (Pinus roxburghii) and bamboo stems (Bambusa balcooa). Acid used for hydrolysis has an impact on the morphology of the cellulose whiskers i.e. yielding defect-free either rod-like or spherical-like whiskers characterized by Transmission Electron Microscope and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope. Their nano scale crystalline morphology provides high surface area and high mechanical strength. Both types of cellulose whiskers were discretely used for improving the properties of the polymer matrix and were differentiated based on the strength and network produced by cellulose whiskers polymer nanocomposites. Current research focuses on the development of cellulose whiskers as nano-filler in polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) to develop and characterize bionanocomposite films with improved barrier properties for food packaging applications. Barrier properties like oxygen transmission rate (OTR) and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) improves after dispersing cellulose whiskers in the polymer matrix.

PHB/Cellulose whiskers based bionanocomposites: Fabrication and properties evaluation for food packaging applications

245th National Meeting (2013)

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