Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 J Polym Environ DOI 10.1007/s10924-017-0953-1 ORIGINAL PAPER Infuence of Plasticizers on Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Methyl Cellulose-Based Edible Films Awais Khan 1  · Muhammad Bilal Khan Niazi 1  · Salman Raza Naqvi 1  · Wasif Farooq 1,2   © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017 Abbreviations DTGA Diferential thermal gravimetric analysis FTIR Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy GLY Glycerol MA Malic acid MC Methyl cellulose PEG’s Polyethylene glycols PVA Polyvinyl alcohol RH Relative humidity SEM Scanning electron microscopy SOR Sorbitol T g Glass transition temperature TGA Thermo-gravimetric analysis WVP Water vapor permeability XRD X-ray difraction Introduction In recent years, a remarkable amount of research has been devoted for the development of biodegradable polymers and their blends due to the increased environmental con- cerns associated with synthetic polymers and the scarcity of the fossil fuels [1, 2]. Polysaccharide and protein-based flms and coatings have received an enormous amount of attention in the recent days, as excellent candidates for edible food packaging. Among this class of biopolymers are cellulose derivate; that are abundant, non-toxic, renew- able and biodegradable [3, 4]. Cellulose is the most abun- dant organic polymer in the biosphere [5]. Methyl cellulose (MC) is non-ionic water soluble ether that is produced by the alkali treatment of cellulose, followed by the reac- tion with methyl halide (or dimethyl sulfate) [5]. It is least hydrophilic among of the water soluble cellulose ethers [6]. MC is extensively used in food, pharmaceutical and Abstract Methyl cellulose (MC) flms plasticized with malic acid (MA) and sorbitol (SOR) were prepared by casting solution and the infuence of plasticizers at difer- ent concentrations (10, 20 and 30/100 g dry MC) on the mechanical and thermal properties were investigated. A decrease in tensile strength of the plasticized flms was observed with increase in quantity of plasticizer. On the contrary, percentage elongation at break increased with an increase in plasticizer concentration that was more pro- nounced in SOR plasticized flms. Films prepared with SOR exhibited higher water afnity and resulted in greater moisture absorption. Thermal stability was reduced with the addition of plasticizers and the SOR flm samples were more thermally resistant as compared to MA-added flms. FTIR analysis demonstrated the hydrogen bonding interac- tions between the functional groups of MC and plasticizers. The SEM micrographs of all the flms showed a smooth and homogeneous surface morphology. The X-ray difrac- tion analysis suggested a semi-crystalline nature of the plasticized flms. Keywords Methyl cellulose · Edible flm · Mechanical properties · Plasticizer * Muhammad Bilal Khan Niazi m.b.k.niazi@scme.nust.edu.pk 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National University of Sciences and technology, Islamabad, Pakistan 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Mineral (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia