Paper Title
Antimicrobial Properties And Degradation Weight Loss And Morphology Of LLDPE/CHITOSAN Blend

Abstract
Chitosan has attracted much attention mainly because of its antimicrobial and metal-binding properties. Chitosan is is known to be the second most abundant biopolymer in nature and is the major component of the exoskeleton of crustaceans. Chitosan blends are of importance as they are cheap, sustainable and available widely. Antimicrobial films using Chitosan based material was blended with LLDPE in this study. Twin screw compounding machine was used to blend the material with LLDPE and antimicrobial additives. Three different formulations were prepared for an antimicrobial film Chitosan/ LLDOE blend. Antimicrobial test and weight loss was investigated to show antimicrobial and biodegradation effect of blend. Degradation of Chitosan/PE blends upon weathering for up to 2 weeks and 3 weeks for soil burial showed tensile properties variation. After exposure to environment and soil burial test, tensile strength, elongation at break, and Young’s modulus with different Chitosan content of 5 to 20% blend to LLLDPE. Chitosan/PE blends of 10% composition showed higher tensile strength, elongation at break, and Young’s modulus than other blends. Index Terms- Antimicrobial agent, chitosan, composite film, LLDPE. Tensile strength, Weight gain/loss.