The influence of calcium chloride and potassium chloride cross-linking agent on the physical properties of chitosan-carrageenan composite film

Carrageenan is a sulfated polysaccharide that demonstrates excellent film-forming properties. In contrast, many hydroxyl and sulfate groups in their structures produce a carrageenan film highly hydrophilic and demonstrate comparatively poor mechanical. Therefore, it is necessary to blend Carrageenan with other biopolymers to improve the film's mechanical properties. This paper aims to study the characterization of the composite film by combining ĸ Carrageenan and Chitosan using CaCl2 and KCl cross-link agents. The composite film product was characterized by measuring its moisture content, solubility, swelling degree, water vapour permeability, oxygen permeability, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The result shows that the addition of Chitosan could improve the properties of ĸ carrageenan film. CaCl2 and KCl cross-link agents reduce moisture content, swelling, solubility, water vapour permeability, and oxygen permeability of uncrosslinked film, which is suitable for food packaging.