NANO-INFUSED CELLULOSE- BEESWAX FILMS - SYNTHESIS, SOLUBILITY AND TOXICITY; REVOLUTIONIZING SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

Abstract

Petroleum-derived plastic packaging is one of the major environmental pollutants, which persists for centuries and causes severe harm to wildlife. To address this challenge, a composite film was made entirely from renewable biopolymers, including cellulose and beeswax, via solution casting. For the preparation of biopolymer, Cellulose, which is dissolved or dispersed in a solvent, was mixed with molten beeswax, then cast and dried into thin films. The film’s water dissolution time was recorded by adjusting the beeswax content, on the order of ~10 seconds up to ~1800 seconds (∼30 minutes), reflecting the increased hydrophobic barrier provided by the wax phase. In Toxicity assays were conducted using Artemia salina larvae to assess the environmental safety of the developed films. Each test concentration (10, 100, 1000, 10,000, and 100,000 ppm) included 10 larvae per replicate and was performed in triplicate, using artificial seawater as the control (0% mortality observed). The highest tested concentration (100,000 ppm) resulted in a maximum mortality of 43.33% ± 5.77%, while lower concentrations showed ≤7% lethality in most cases. One-way ANOVA revealed that mortality rates at lower concentrations were not significantly different from the control (p > 0.05), indicating statistically negligible toxicity under standard conditions. The experimental setup involved exposing A. salina larvae to 300 µL of each test solution in sterile 96-well plates for 24 hours at room temperature, without aeration or feeding. These results align with the known behaviour of cellulose-based materials, which fully biodegrade under natural conditions and show no adverse effects on algae, daphnids or fish at high concentrations. Overall, nano-infused cellulose–beeswax films combine tunable functional performance (from water solubility to barrier properties) with confirmed biodegradability and low ecotoxicity. This synergy of designed functionality and environmental safety makes them promising materials for eco friendly packaging applications.