Effect of ZnO nanoparticles on the physico-mechanical properties of agar/kappa carrageenan bilayer film

This study was developed to evaluate the effect of ZnO nanoparticles on properties of bilayer agar- Ka-carrageenan film. Bilayer nanocomposite films were prepared with addition of ZnO nanoparticles at different concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 % w/w on kappa carrageenan and eventually addition this mixture on polymer was produced from agar using the casting method. The Properties of nanocomposites including color, water solubility, moisture content, mechanical properties, transparency, and water vapor permeability were investigated. The results showed that the addition of ZnO nanoparticles increased opacity of the films in different concentrations and the highest opacity was observed in the film with 1.5 % of the nanoparticles. The water solubility of the films decreased significantly from 84.96% in the bilayer film to 32.45% in the nanocomposite containing 0.5 % ZnO. Also, addition of 0.5% ZnO increased the tensile strength and elongation at break of the film significantly. Water vapor permeability of the bilayer films decreased significantly from 0.61 to 0.34 (10-10 g/ms Pa) with addition of 0.5 % ZnO.