Effect of Adipic Acid as Crosslinking Agent in Polyvinyl Alcohol / Nanocellulose from Rice Straw Biocomposites

A study was conducted to investigate the biodegradable polymers by adding natural polymers into non‐degradable plastics material. Therefore in this research, an attempt was made by incorporating natural polymer, which is cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix. This study was also investigated the effect of adipic acid as a crosslinking agent to PVA/CNC film with different CNC content. CNC was extracted from agricultural waste, which is rice straw by sulphuric acid hydrolysis at 45ºC for 60 minutes. The CNC was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). The result shows that hemicellulose and lignin break down after undergoes several pre‐treatments. The PVA/CNC biocomposites films were prepared by casting with different concentrations of CNC (0%, 2%, 6%, 10% wt) and the addition of 5 wt % (0.1 g) of adipic acid (AA) to the respective concentrations. The tensile test and FTIR analysis were used to investigate the properties of these biocomposites films. The result of PVA/CNC/AA film showed a higher tensile strength and elongation at break (Eb) compared to PVA/CNC film. Thus, the presence of AA enhanced the properties of PVA/CNC biocomposites film.