Abstract

Films made from cassava starch are brittle and weak, leading to inadequate mechanical properties, thereby limiting its application. The properties of this starch film were modified by adding plasticizers and blending with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) biopolymers. The CMC was synthesized from cellulose extracted from plantain pseudo-stem through alkali hydrolysis followed by bleaching with sodium hypochlorite. A freshly prepared cassava starch (10% w/w) based films, plasticized with sorbitol (30 g/100 g starch) and various concentration of CMC (0, 10, 20, and 30% of the starch) were used to determine the effects of CMC on the properties of the films. The FT-IR spectrum confirmed the conversion of cellulose to CMC. Additionally, the FTIR confirms the intermolecular interactions between the cassava starch and CMC. The results showed a decrease in the water vapour permeation (WVP) and a reduction in the elongation at break (EB) of the film with increase in percentage of CMC. However, the tensile strength (TS) of the film increases as the amount of CMC increases.