Study on thermal and mechanical properties of cellulose/iron oxide bionanocomposites film

The cellulose/iron oxide films were synthesized by a simple solution mixing-curing method. The structural elucidation of these films was made, using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffractions (XRD). The homogeneous dispersion of iron oxide in nanocomposites and morphology of their films were analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Thermal stability was conducted with the help of Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA). The improved Integral Procedural Decomposition Temperature (IPDT) value confirms that cellulose/iron oxide is more thermally stable than cellulose film. The tensile stress test was conducted to analyze the mechanical properties of cellulose, cellulose/(0.5 wt%)Fe3O4, cellulose/(1 wt%)Fe3O4 and cellulose/(2 wt%)Fe3O4 nanocomposites films. The tensile strength and Young modulus of the cellulose/(1 wt%)Fe3O4 nanocomposites films were observed as 9.42 ± 0.6% and 45.16 ± 0.4% higher than that of the cellulose film, respectively. The physico-mechanical properties of these films suggest that the iron oxide based cellulose nanocomposite films may have a potential scope for their application in packaging industries.