Surface modification of polypropylene by grafting films for active food packaging

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Copack Co, 6th of October City, Industrial Area No 3, Plot 154, Giza, Egypt

2 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Cairo University

Abstract

Polypropylene (PP) films were activated by corona discharge and then successfully chemically grafted with acrylonitrile monomer (AN). The grafted PP films were subsequently hydrolyzed in alkaline medium to introduce carboxyl and amide groups. The grafted PP films were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), elemental analysis, thermal analysis (TGA), mechanical properties, x-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), density measurement, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), swelling characteristics, and permeability properties of oxygen and water vapor (OTR and WVTR). The hydrolyzed grafted PP was immersed in an acidic solution containing both chitosan and chitosan/thiourea. The chitosan and chitosan/thiouera immobilized grafted films were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, swelling characteristics, and permeability properties of oxygen and water vapor. These films' were discovered to have improved antifungal and antibacterial properties over pristine PP film. A trial was conducted to illustrate the feasibility of using these modified films for active food packaging

Keywords

Main Subjects