Preparation and Characterization of Biodegradable Pectin/Polyvinyl Alcohol Composite Membranes

People are becoming increasingly concerned about the environmental issues that arise due to the excessive usage of plastic and are starting to search for alternative biodegradable materials for food packaging. So, in the present work, biodegradable plastic films were prepared using pectin and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composites at the levels 1:2, 1:1 and 2:1 compared to pure PVA film. The prepared films were characterized using FT -IR, SEM and tensile techniques. The obtained results showed that PVA membrane doesn't have biodegradability rate, while the pectin membrane show very speed degradation. PVA/Pectin membranes at the ratio of 2:1, 1:1, and 1:2 loosed 9.4, 12.2, and 15.2% of their weight, respectively. FT -IR spectra of PVA/Pectin membranes showed good interactions between PVA and pectin through freeze -thawing process. Smooth surface structure of PVA membrane with no or few pores appeared under the SEM, while the pectin membrane was rough with many pores. PVA/Pectin membrane surfaces showed intermediate characteristics. Tensile test showed that the maximum stress increased from 16.25 +/- 0.79 for PVA membrane and 12.54 +/- 0.81 for pectin membrane to become more than 31 for PVA/Pectin membranes. Also, the maximum force increased from 14.63 +/- 0.71 for PVA membrane and 7.72 +/- 0.68 for pectin membrane to become 26.15 +/- 0.80, 25.27 +/- 1.51, and 48.00 +/- 1.82 for PVA/Pectin membrane at the levels of 1:1, 2:1, 1:2, respectively, indicating enhanced mechanical properties with the increase of pectin concentration.