Improving thermal stability of biopolymer nanocomposite of aloe vera gel reinforced with Mango seed shell cellulose nanocrystals and Evaluating Its Anti-bacterial activity

Abstract Renewability, biocompatibility, biodegradability and eco-friendly aloe vera gel biopolymer reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals materials improved the thermal stability of biopolymer nanocomposite. Aloe vera gel powered was extracted from leaves by alcohol precipitation method, and cellulose nanocrystals were prepared by sulfuric acid hydrolysis of purified mango seed shell cellulose and were used as reinforcement with aloe vera gel by solution method under strong stirring and addition of glycerol as cross-linking agents. Mango seed shell cellulose nanocrystals and the nanocomposite were characterized with ultraviolet visible, fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer, thermogravimetric analysis, differential thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and antimicrobial properties of the nanocomposite were also measured. A significant enhancement of the thermal stability was achieved with a small loading of cellulose nanocrystals to the aloe vera gel matrix. The results of thermal properties show that 3 wt.% CNCs containing nanocomposite have higher thermal stability among other wt.% CNC. The improvements in thermal properties suggest a close interaction between filler and matrix as shown from FTIR results increasing CNCs decreases the intensity of the peaks. The SEM image shows that good improvement in morphology and good dispersion cellulose nanocrystals in aloe vera gel matrixes. Even though, all synthesized biopolymer nanocomposites show a significant antibacterial activity even at lower concentration; 3 wt. % CNCs containing nanocomposite has higher antibacterial activity than the others.