Alkali-cellulose/ Polyvinyl alcohol biofilms fabricated with essential clove oil as a novel scented antimicrobial packaging material

The increased environmental awareness issues encouraged the manufacture of food -wares and packaging items from cellulosic materials to cope with the rapid growth of fast- food industry. In this work, scented biofilms with potent antimicrobial activity were prepared in a multi-step process assisted with the AFM. The biofilms comprised of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) physically crosslinked with different weight ratios of alkaline cellulose (Na-Cell) [PVA/Na-Cell]. Then, the effect of gamma irradiation on the surface features of the optimized sample (PVA/Na-Cell4) was verified at 5-25 KGy. The optimum film (PVA/Na-Cell4.20kGy) was fabricated with different weight ratios of essential clove oil (ECO). The biofilms were characterized by the AFM, FT-IR, XRD, TGA, and the DMA. The contact angle measurements of the optimized films reveal wettability resistance as following: PVA/Na-Cell4.0kGy (102.48o) < PVA/Na-Cell4.20kGy (133.66o)< PVA/Na-Cell4.ECO20kGy (140.62o). The antimicrobial investigation displayed remarkable effect against different pathogens. Therefore, the claimed biofilms are excellent candidates for packaging application.