Preparation and Characterization of Biodegradable Polylactic Acid (PLA) Film for Food Packaging Application: A Review

Abstract

Biodegradable PLA which is produced by polymerization of lactic acid derived from the starch of plants is a good candidate for replacing the current petroleum-based polymers such as polystyrene (PS) or Polypropylene (PP) in food packaging application. These petroleum-based polymers do contribute to large-scale environmental pollution as it is a non-degradable polymer. Being classified as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) for the food contact applications, PLA film for food packaging application can be synthesized in lab-scale and mass production by using solvent casting and injection molding which are common for the thermoplastic fabrication with the fast production and low in cost. The characterization methods used for the PLA film analysis can be done by the Universal Tensile machine (UTS) in which the main characteristics of the polymer film compatibility and its performance with the combined materials have been discussed in comparison with those of pure polymer films.

Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Biofoil Based on Chitosan and Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica, Houtt.) Rhizome Bark Extract

“…In comparison to neat polylactic acid foils, a biofoil is considered to have good performance when its tensile strength varies between 24.8 and 70.2 MPa [ 62 ], depending on the application (more for food packages and less for medical scaffolds). Relative to the chitosan (blank) biofoil, the JKRB biofoil with incorporated extract in a concentration of 0.01 mg mL −1 (1%) did not display outstanding performance with regard to tensile strength, only increasing it by up to 1.81 MPa, which was much lower than that achieved using chestnut extract (0.01 mg mL −1 , 15.6 MPa) [ 35 ] or curcumin extract (0.08 mg mL −1 , 18.8 MPa) [ 63 ].…”

“…A recent reference has shown this value to be 57.0% to prepare a high-performance scaffold [ 64 ], while this parameter could ideally be lower. The range for the elongation at break for polylactic-acid-based materials has been shown to be between 1.0 and 7.9% [ 62 ], which is unlikely to be achieved using cyclic polymers such as chitosan.…”

Design of novel Polylactide composite films with improved gas barrier and mechanical properties using epoxy chain extender‐grafted organic montmorillonite

“…PLA has good strength, and its mechanical properties and hardness are similar to those of traditional resins. PLA also has the properties of transparency and gloss, which are rare in other degradable plastics and are especially suitable for packaging materials 14–16 …”

“…PLA also has the properties of transparency and gloss, which are rare in other degradable plastics and are especially suitable for packaging materials. [14][15][16] However, compared with high-barrier nylon and polyvinylidene chloride, PLA has poor oxygen and water vapor barrier properties, low toughness, a low heat distortion temperature, and low impact resistance, which implies that this material often cannot meet the requirements of highbarrier packaging materials. These limitations can be overcome by modifications such as copolymerization, blending, and plasticization.…”

Poly(1,3-Propylene Glycol Citrate) as a Plasticizer for Toughness Enhancement of Poly-L-Lactic Acid

“…One of the major drawbacks of PLA is its high glass transition temperature (Tg) which ranges from 55 °C to 65 °C, making it brittle and fragile at room temperature. Additionally, the elongation at the break of PLA is limited to only ~5%, which further limits its practical use [ 7 ]. Efforts have been made to improve the mechanical properties of PLA through various methods, including blending it with other polymers, copolymerization, and the addition of nanoparticles [ 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”