Abstract
A biodegradable composite film of poly (vinyl alcohol) reinforced with fly ash and glutaraldehyde was fabricated using a suspension of these materials in deionized water. The tensile strength and modulus of the films were found to increase proportionally with FA up to 20 wt%, and achieved the maximum 49% and 123% higher, respectively, than that of PVA. The percentage of strain at failure decreased exponentially with FA. The physical and/or chemical bonding in the systems (PVA, FA, and GLA) were directly characterized by the shift of stretching and bending peaks of the structure in the components with FTIR spectra.