Formation and characterization of BC and BC-paper pulp films for packaging application

It was found beneficial to manufacture bacterial cellulose (BC) obtained from waste food sources to create value-added packaging products by firstly performing purification and disintegration processing of the BC and then reinforcing it with paper pulp. The purification treatment involved using sodium hydroxide (2% w/v at 100°C for 1 h) on BC pulp to remove the bacterial protein and the resulting cultured medium film was characterized with respect to its physical properties. An acid treatment on the purified BC pulp was applied to disintegrate cellulose network before forming a film. The results showed that the sodium hydroxide treatment increased the film burst index and brightness. Heating the BC pulp to 70–100°C in 1.25–5.00% v/v sulfuric acid treatment for 30 min degraded the film’s mechanical properties. Also, a study of the addition and mixing of paper pulps or modified cationic starch to the BC was found to improve the film properties with respect to packaging properties. Inclusion of short fiber paper pulp by 30 wt.% created a good synergistic effect by improving the mechanical properties of film especially for tear strength. Moreover, cationic-modified cassava starch (2% w/w) improved the tensile and burst index as well as resistance to oxygen permeation of the BC film. The results indicate that the BC pulp could be used to improve mechanical properties and resistance to water vapor and oxygen permeation of the short fiber paper pulp film which is ideal for packaging materials.