Experimental design application for alinate-chitosan based biofilm synthesis

Alginate, as biopolymer, has recently been widely used as a hydrogel, which has applications in areas such as medicine, food, and environment. Hydrogels are three-dimensional cross-linked networks composed of hydrophilic polymers that include high amounts of water. In this work, it was aimed to biopolymer form chitosan hybrid polymer networks with alginate by using a cross-linker that provides ionic bonding of two macromolecules. The chitosan / alginate hydrogel has hydrogel stability because of the alginate presence, but polyvinyl alcohol and poly(ethylene oxide), synthetic polymers compatible with the environment, are added to increase the mechanical strength of the material to form the film. The tensile strength, percent elongation and elastic region tensile strength changes of the matrix biopolymer in different compositions of chitosan, alginate and polyvinyl alcohol containing biopolymer were investigated. Using the experimental design method, the tensile strength, percentage elongation and tensile strength of the elastic region were studied as response surface with alginate, PVA, chitosan concentration factors. The relationships between the factors and response surfaces for biopolymer matrix were determined as a function. With this work, the consumption of time and chemicals has been reduced. Factor values that provide the best response surface for optimization were determined. The suitability of the biopolymer matrix for membranes, films, food packaging was discussed according to the obtained data.