Abstract
Because of its non-toxic, pollution-free, and low-cost advantages, environmentally-friendly packaging is receiving widespread attention. However, using simple technology to prepare environmentally-friendly packaging with excellent comprehensive performance is a difficult problem faced by the world. This paper reports a very simple and environmentally-friendly method. The hydroxyl groups of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) were modified by introducing malic acid and the silane coupling agent KH-550, and the modified CNF were added to cassava starch as a reinforcing agent to prepare film with excellent mechanical, hydrophobic, and barrier properties. In addition, due to the addition of malic acid and a silane coupling agent, the dispersibility and thermal stability of the modified CNFs became significantly better. By adjusting the order of adding the modifiers, the hydrophobicity of the CNFs and thermal stability were increased by 53.5% and 36.9% ± 2.7%, respectively. At the same time, the addition of modified CNFs increased the tensile strength, hydrophobicity, and water vapor transmission coefficient of the starch-based composite films by 1034%, 129.4%, and 35.95%, respectively. This material can be widely used in the packaging of food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and medical consumables.