PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A BIOPOLYMER FILM MADE WITH CORN STARCH AND NOPAL XOCONOSTLE (Opuntia joconsotle) MUCILAGE

"Two kinds of biopolymer films were made from mucilage nopal xoconostle (Opuntia joconostle), corn starch,polyvinyl alcohol, chitosan and glycerol, which were prepared by the casting/solvent evaporation method. A comparisonbetween the formed films using the mucilage extract and the direct addition of mucilage to the polymer matrix wasdiscussed. The FTIR analysis revealed that both biofilms possessed a similar chemical structure. The thermal behaviour ofthe two kinds of films resulted very similar with an initial thermal decomposition temperature around at 156 °C. Opticaland SEM microscopies showed that the total solids present in the directly-added mucilage formed microphases in the bulkof the films. The mechanical properties disclosed that the higher the content of plasticisers the lower the elastic modulusand hardness values when mucilage was added directly."