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Abstract
The use of novel biomaterials as packaging material is an emerging approach for dealing with concerns about food safety and environmental pollution. Legislative compulsions have compelled the scientific community to think about other alternatives to non-biodegradable packaging. The demand for biodegradable materials; especially from non-conventional sources, has increased. In the present study, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin extracted from peanut shell were evaluated for the development of composite films. The effect of incorporation of lignin or hemicellulose or both in cellulose films was characterized to assess the functional properties of composite films. The inclusion of the aforementioned biopolymers enhanced the physiochemical properties including opacity, swelling index, water solubility and elongation at break while tensile strength and moisture contents were higher for the pure cellulose films. FTIR spectra and SEM images of the composite films revealed that there was no bonding between the lignin and cellulose in the composite films, on the contrary, the hemicellulose was attached to the surface of cellulose fibers with hydrogen bonds. All the composite films depicted more than 50% biodegradation after 15 days.