Physical, mechanical, optical and biodegradability properties of polyvinyl alcohol/cellulose nanofibrils/kaolinite clay-based hybrid composite films

The aim of this study was to investigate the physical, mechanical, optical and biodegradation properties of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs)/Kaolinite clay (KC)-based hybrid composite films prepared by the solution casting method. CNFs were extracted from barley husk using the acid hydrolysis method. The average diameter of the CNFs was 17.5 nm and the length was more than 1100 nm. Water uptake of the composite films increased with the increase in the amount of CNFs in PVA matrix from 5% to 25%. While a significant reduction in water uptake was observed for KC-reinforced films, the optical transmittance changed a little with the addition of CNFs and a transmittance of 90% was observed for the film containing 5% CNFs. Tensile strength of the hybrid film containing 5% CNFs and 5% KC increased by 62% as compared to that of the PVA film. Soil burial test revealed that the PVA/CNF composite films exhibited high weight loss (%) in comparison with PVA/KC and PVA/KC/CNF composite films. The film containing 25% CNFs showed the highest weight loss of 46.54% after 75 days of burial in soil.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the properties of PVA/CNF/KC-based hybrid composite films. The addition of CNFs and KC showed significant impact on the properties of the films, with the film containing 25% CNFs exhibiting the highest degradation performance in soil.