Self‐supporting‐film from starch, poly(vinyl alcohol), and glutaraldehyde: Optimization of composition using response surface methodology

ABSTRACT Use of starch based biodegradable packaging film can partially reduce the landfilling problem from non‐biodegradable petroleum based alternatives. The aim of this work was to optimize raw material blend composition containing corn‐starch (CS), and low amount of poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA) and glutaraldehyde (GA) to produce self‐supporting‐film (SSF), using response surface methodology. Rotatable central composite design was used to evaluate the effect of CS (6.25–7.50), PVA (0.00–1.25), and GA (0.00–1.25), in g/100 mL of the blend, on tensile strength (TS), percent elongation (%El), and water vapor permeability (WVP) of the film. The most significant ( p < 0.01/0.05) factors were: CS and GA for TS, CS and PVA for El, and PVA for WVP. The SSFs were thin, flexible and transparent; the optimum composition (g/100 mL) to maximize TS and El, and minimize WVP was 7.50 (CS), 0.875 (PVA), and 0.125 (GA), which produced SSF showing TS: 11.66 MPa, %El: 8.56, and WVP: 0.13 g mm/m 2 /kPa/h. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 44436.