Bionanocomposite films based on plasticized PLA–PHB/cellulosenanocrystal blends

tOptically transparent plasticized poly(lactic acid) (PLA) based bionanocomposite films intended for foodpackaging were prepared by melt blending. Materials were plasticized with 15 wt% of acetyl(tributylcitrate) (ATBC) to improve the material processability and to obtain flexibile films. Poly(hydroxybutyrate)(PHB) was used to increase PLA crystallinity. The thermal stability of the PLA–PHB blends was improvedby the addition of 5 wt% of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) or modified cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) syn-thesized from microcrystalline cellulose. The combination of ATBC and cellulose nanocrystals, mainly thebetter dispersed CNCs, improved the interaction between PLA and PHB. Thus, an improvement on theoxygen barrier and stretchability was achieved in PLA–PHB–CNCs–ATBC which also displayed somewhatUV light blocking effect. All bionanocomposite films presented appropriate disintegration in compostsuggesting their possible applications as biodegradable packaging materials.