Biodegradable sandwich-architectured films derived from pea starch and polylactic acid with enhanced shelf-life for fruit preservation

The development of biopolymer films is crucial for the replacement of conventional plastics. Tremendous effort is made to improve their performances by introducing biopolymers through the film manufacturing process. Herein, a sandwich-architectured film was proposed to efficiently improve the adhesion between the PS and PLA layers by using octenyl succinic anhydride-modified pea starch (OMPS) layer as the interlayer, leading to a highly mechanically enhanced interpenetrating network. Accordingly, the properties of the films were enhanced due to the synergism effect of sandwich architecture. In particular, the WVP value of the sandwich-architectured films (0.25 similar to 0.89 x10(-10) g.m(-1).s(-1).Pa-1) decreased more than 7-fold compared with the OMP520 film, and the OP value of the sandwich-architectured films (0.256 similar to 1.229x10(-)(12) cm(3).m.m(-2).s(-1).Pa-1) decreased more than 10-fold in comparison to the PLA film. Benefitting from the characteristics investigated above, the films exhibited a favorable effect on strawberry storage. Overall, the fabricated eco-friendly sandwich-architectured films have shown great potential for biodegradable packaging applications.

Automated summary

A sandwich-architectured film was proposed to enhance the adhesion between PS and PLA layers by using an OMPS layer as the interlayer, resulting in highly mechanically enhanced interpenetrating network. The properties of the films were improved due to the synergism effect of sandwich architecture, showing great potential for biodegradable packaging applications.