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Recent findings of microplastics in marine food such as fish, crabs and shrimps necessitate the need to develop biodegradable packaging materials. This study reports on the development of a biodegradable packing material from cellulose nanofibril-polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposite embedded with silver nanoparticles. Microcrystalline cellulose was isolated from sugarcane bagasse via the kraft process followed by conversion of cellulose I to cellulose II using NaOH/urea/water solution. The nanofibrils were then isolated using (2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl) oxyl (TEMPO) and used as a reinforcing element in polyvinyl alcohol composite prepared through solvent casting. The tensile strength, water solubility, optical properties, water vapor permeability and wettability of the prepared films were then evaluated. The antimicrobial potency of the films was evaluated using the disc diffusion antimicrobial assay against selected microorganisms.

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Vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde) is the major flavour constituent of vanilla. It has a wide range of applications in food industry and in perfumery. Vanillin is also very useful in the synthesis of several pharmaceutical chemicals. Lignin is a phenolic polymer which is found in plant cell walls with a structure depending strongly on the source of lignin and the process condition, which should be adjusted for different samples. In this work, lignin was extracted from Kraft cooking liquor of wood ash. The amount of extracted lignin was 25.5%, based on oven dry weight of wood ash. The lignin obtained was then reacted with alkaline nitrobenzene and refluxed at 170°C for 3 hours to obtain vanillin. The FT-IR spectrum of vanillin was similar to standard. The yield obtained from oxidation with nitrobenzene was 3.9%.