The Effect of UV-Irradiation on Poly(vinyl alcohol) Composites with Bacterial Cellulose

• Published in: Macromolecular symposia. Vol. 315; no. 1; pp. 198 - 204
• Main Authors: Stoica-Guzun, Anicuta, Stroescu, Marta, Jipa, Iuliana, Dobre, Loredana, Jinga, Sorin, Zaharescu, Traian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 01.05.2012; WILEY‐VCH Verlag
• Subjects: bacterial cellulose; composites; degradation; poly(vinyl alcohol); UV-irradiation
• ISSN: 1022-1360; 1521-3900
• DOI: 10.1002/masy.201250524

The development of biodegradable packaging materials, especially from renewable resources is a constant preoccupation of nowadays, because of the environmental problems caused by synthetic polymers. The combination of cellulose with other polymeric materials could be an ecologic alternative and a way to use renewable resources for food packaging. Bacterial cellulose which is produced by microbial fermentation is also a promising material which can be used not only in biomedical application, but also as food packaging material. In this research different composite films between poly(vinyl alcohol)‐bacterial cellulose (PVA‐BC) were obtained by casting method. The obtained films were UV irradiated for different periods of times from 1 to 10 hours, using a mercury lamp, Philips TUV‐30, emitting light mainly at 254 nm. Changes in FT‐IR spectra before and after UV irradiation and the modification of transparency and of the swelling characteristics of the films were observed. As it was expected the composites materials are sensitive at UV exposure.