Characteristics of polylactide acid/polyethylene glycol film infused with key lime essential oil composites

Abstract Polylactide Acid (PLA) is the most developed and biodegradable bio-based polymer. Because of its inherent brittleness, PLA cannot be used as a packaging material without plasticizers. The distillation method has been used to extract the key lime oil. The formation of PLA and polyethylene glycol (PEG) with key lime essential oil composites was done using the casting process on the petri dish. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectrum of key lime essential oil shows characteristic peaks of terpenoids and limonene which are common in citrus essential oils. Thermal stability shows best at PLA/PEG/key lime essential oil at 30% where the 30% left residue was detected at 500 °C, due to the addition of key lime essential oil. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) has been applied to examine the morphological characteristics. The FESEM results show the pores in the PLA composites are caused using key lime essential oil in the composite. Elongation at break and elongation at yield increase with the addition of key lime essential oil in the composite (23% of essential oil). However, the maximum tensile decreases with the further addition of key lime essential oil (30%).