PREPARATION OF FOOD GRADE PAPER FROM FINGER MILLET STRAW WITH WATER PROOF BIODEGRADABLE COATING

Abstract

FMS is an agro-residue that is a promising raw material for paper making. Morphological analysis and proximate analysis of FMS show promising results for food-grade paper making. Soda-Anthraquinone pulping was done to separate fibers from FMS. The hand sheet was made in British sheet former. The present work was also conducted to isolate cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from FMS. The thermal, structural, elemental & morphological analyses of CNC were measured through resultant techniques. Such as FTIR, XRD, TGA, Zeta Potential, FESEM and AFM. Chitosan is a biopolymer that has showed promise for improving the barrier and mechanical characteristics of paper when CNC is reinforced in Chitosan. The Coated and uncoated paper was characterized using TGA, FESEM, water barrier properties such as Cobb60, water contact angle and WVTR, showing promising results for food packaging. The result of mechanical properties shows paper made from FMS has good strength properties of uncoated paper with respect to paper made from rice & wheat straw. Also, mechanical properties as well as barrier properties improved as paper coated with CNC + Chitosan as compared to chitosan coated paper. CNC is a promising reinforcing material for Chitosan. The biodegradability test shows paper made from FMS with a waterproof biodegradable coating is promising biodegradable paper.