Blends of Carboxymethyl Cellulose and Cottonseed Protein as Biodegradable Films.

With the increasing awareness of plastic pollution in the environment and the accumulation of microplastics in water, a significant amount of research and development is ongoing to replace the synthetic plastics in packaging and coatings. In this work, we explored the blends of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and washed cottonseed meal (CSM, consisting mostly of cottonseed protein) as agro-based, biodegradable, and sustainable alternatives to plastics. Glycerol was found to be a suitable plasticizer for these blends.

Bilayer Films of Poly(lactic acid) and Cottonseed Protein for Packaging Applications.

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a common biobased film-former made from renewable biomass, such as polysaccharides from sugarcane, corn, or cassava. It has good physical properties but is relatively expensive when compared to the plastics used for food packaging. In this work, bilayer films were designed, incorporating a PLA layer and a layer of washed cottonseed meal (CSM), an inexpensive agro-based raw material from cotton manufacturing, where the main component is cottonseed protein.