Fabrication and Characterisation of Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Deacetylated Crab-Shell Particles Biocomposites with Excellent Thermomechanical and Antibacterial Properties as Active Food Packaging Material

Abstract PVA is a kind of biodegradable polymer that can be used as carbon source and energy by bacteria. In this study, deacetylated crab-shell particles (dCSPs) which exhibit strong biological activity due to the composition of chitin and CaCO 3 , as natural and environmentally friendly multi-macromolecule fillers, were used to modify poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) resin to form PVA/dCSP biocomposites. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results proved that the –OH in PVA and the C=O groups of CO 3 2- in the dCSPs could form hydrogen bondings, which might retard the crystallisation of PVA. With the increased of dCSPs content, those biocomposites showed improved surface hydrophobicity, water vapor barrier, thermomechanical properties, thermostability, fire resistance, and antibacterial activity. Especially, PVA/dCSP biocomposite film with 30% dCSPs showed excellerent properties above with not much sacrifice of tensile strength and elongation at break. The incorporation of dCSPs effectively enhanced the bacteriostasis ability against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus . The introduction of dCSPs in PVA ensures effective utilisation of agricultural by-products. In general, this study provides an alternative method for the development of biodegradable antibacterial materials, which could be used in food packaging applications. Graphical Abstract