Shock Wave Treated PVA Films as Alternative Bio Degradable Polymer for Packaging Industry

Abstract

Poly Vinyl Alcohol is being an environmental friendly and having very good mechanical properties, the hydrophilic property of it makes it un-usable for packaging industry as an alternative to environmental hazardous petro chemical based polymers. To increase its water resistant property an indigenous shock wave treatment is tested and it is found that the hydrophilic property reduces significantly. The Poly Vinyl Alcohol films of around 0.25 mm thickness is bombarded with 0, 50, 100 and 150 shock wave impulses, with time gap of around 15 seconds of having Mach number around 1.7 to 1.8. The shock waves are produced with the help of a shock tube which can produce shockwaves with Mach number upto 2. The water resistant property is studied by film dissolve time method and by contact angle measurement. The morphological changes due to shock loading is studied by UV-VIS, EDAX, FTIR methods and the SEM images confirm the structural changes. The reduction in hydrophilic property promises the future of PVA films as biodegradable packaging material.