Characterization and application of methylcellulose and potato starch blended films in controlled release of urea

Abstract

Abstract Biodegradable blended films from methylcellulose (MC) and potato starch (PST) have been developed by the casting process. In the present work the influences of concentrations of MC and PST on rheological properties, swelling, mechanical properties such as tensile strength, percentage elongation at break and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of the prepared blended films have been studied. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis of pure MC, PST, their mixture and the mixture with glutaraldehyde and urea was performed to investigate the interactions in blended films. The blended films of MC and PST showed an increase in tensile strength due to the cross linking reactions of the amylopectin molecule of PST in the physical gel state. The change of percentage elongation at break increased with MC concentration and the opposite trend was found in the case of the WVTR due to the network structure of the blended films. The blended films showed a large improvement in the abovementioned properties compared with each single component, due to the interaction formed between hydroxyl groups of PST and the methoxy groups of MC. Experiments were also conducted to investigate the controlled urea release through blended films and the kinetics of the process. Interesting results were found with the prepared MC and PST blended films.