STUDY ON BIODEGRADABLE AND ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF BIOWASTE CHITIN-POLYVINYL ALCOHOL BLENDED FILM

The film forming ability of chitin (CT) blended with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were prepared with a seriesof nine different ratios of CT:PVA, (10:90, 20:80, 30:70, 40:60, 50:50, 60:40, 70:30, 80:20, 90:10v/v),using 2% chitin solution and 10% polyvinyl alcohol solution. All prepared blended films have a highlytransparent, smooth surface and pale-yellow color. The prepared blended films were characterized by usingthe physical parameters, the physico-mechanical properties, the degree of swelling, and water uptake. Asmeasured by the swelling and water uptake, the blended films showed a higher degree of hydration, as aresult of varying the weight percent of PVA in the membrane matrix. Comparative characterization of theprepared blended films included FT IR and TG-DTA analysis. From the FT IR analysis, the characteristicabsorption peaks of CT-PVA blended film clearly showed that the two polymers were well mixed.According to TG-DTA analysis, the thermal stability of the CT-PVA blended film was found to be slightlylower. The various types of CT-PVA blended films were also tested for antimicrobial activity using anagar disc diffusion method. From these results, all of the prepared CT-PVA blended film showedpronounce antimicrobial activities. Subsequently, the biodegradable nature of the prepared CT-PVAblended films was studied through the soil burial test. Finally, the prepared CT-PVA blended films can beused in wound dressing, and also as packaging materials.