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Abstract
Two organo-modified clays for food contact applications were developed to produce hydrophobically modified montmorillonite and hence to obtain better compatibility between the biopolymer and the filler (nanoclay). These nanofillers were characterised by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in order to study their composition, structure and thermal stability. The fillers were used to reinforce polylactic acid (PLA) bottles, which were characterised using different techniques such as mechanical and barrier properties, morphology and thermal stability. The results were compared with conventional PLA bottles. The use of the modified clay in PLA bottles was found to lead to an improvement in mechanical and barrier properties. Finally, cytotoxicity tests were carried out with the organo-modified clays using Caco-2 and HepG2 cell lines, with uptake of neutral red as a basal cytotoxicity biomarker.
Funding
The authors wish to thank the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Ministry of Science and Innovation) [grant number AGL2010-21210], the Instituto de la Mediana y Pequeña Industria Valenciana (IMPIVA – Institute for Small and Medium Industry of the Generalitat Valenciana), and Junta de Andalucía (the Andalucía Government) [grant number AGR5969] for funding.
