Synthesis of Biodegradable Film Made from Sodium Alginate Embedded with Magnesium Nanoparticles for Food Packaging Applications

The current work focuses on the synthesis of the biodegradable film made from Sodium alginate (S.A), and then the addition of magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO-NPs) was synthesized by sol-gel technique. Glycerol which is a plasticizer is used to enhance the tensile strength (TS) and film expansion due to a decrease in intermolecular forces in the polymer chain. With the addition of olive oil (OE), the functional properties of control films were improved, which results in a lowering of water solubility, and moisture content but the tensile strength slightly decreased. The opacity, moisture absorption, and solubility of the film, thickness, tensile strength (TS), elongation (EB), ultraviolet-vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize sodium alginate biofilm with the addition of MgO-NPs (SA1) and without the addition of MgO-NPs (SA2). But considering all other factors, the film (SA1) revealed a slower rate of degradation than the film (SA2). The film's TS and opacity are enhanced by MgO-NPs addition, while moisture content (WVP), solubility, and elongation at break are decreased.