Study of Biocomposite Films Based on Cassava Starch and Microcrystalline Cellulose Derived from Cassava Pulp for Potential Medical Packaging Applications  
[PERSON]  
1 Research Center for Biocomposite Materials for Medical Industry and Agricultural and Food Industry, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
[PERSON]  
3 School of Polymer Engineering, Institute of Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 3000, Thailand; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
[PERSON]  
1 Research Center for Biocomposite Materials for Medical Industry and Agricultural and Food Industry, Nakhon Ratchasima 3000, Thailand; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
[PERSON]  
1 Research Center for Biocomposite Materials for Medical Industry and Agricultural and Food Industry, Nakhon Ratchasima 3000, Thailand; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
Footnote 1: [[https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci](https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci)]([https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci](https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci))  
2 Institute of Research and Development, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 3000, Thailand  
Footnote 2: [[https://www.mdpi.com/journals/article/pdf/10](https://www.mdpi.com/journals/article/pdf/10)]([https://www.mdpi.com/journals/article/pdf/10](https://www.mdpi.com/journals/article/pdf/10))  
and they are looking for new environmentally friendly materials to replace products obtained from fossil fuels. This issue can be solved by replacing non-biodegradable materials with biodegradable alternatives such as biopolymers, which are both ecologically friendly and harmless to health. Many studies have been investigated using natural and biodegradable polymers for use in developing packaging films [4]. Starch is regarded as a highly compelling choice among biopolymers for developing packaging films due to its biodegradability, eco-friendliness, affordability, transparency, renewability, and ease of processing [5]. Unfortunately, starch film has poor mechanical properties. Many research studies solved these drawbacks by incorporating other components, such as chitosan, carboxymethylcellulose, and clays, into starch films [6]. Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is also an interesting reinforcing agent in the improvement in mechanical properties of cassava starch films because of excellent biodegradability, high strength, and low cost [7]. MCC is made from plants like cassava pulp, pineapple leaf, wood, sugarcane bagasse, bamboo, etc. [6]. Several investigations have indicated that adding MCC effectively increases the mechanical properties of starch-based composite films [8; 9; 10]. Until today, even though starch/MCC film fabrication has been reported, most of them have only focused on food packaging applications [10; 11; 12]. Numerous researchers confirmed that MCC enhanced the mechanical properties of starch films for food packaging applications. [PERSON] et al. (2019) studied the mechanical properties of MCC-reinforced cassava starch films. In this work, MCC at different concentrations (0, 1, 3, 5, and 10% \(w/w\) of starch) was incorporated into cassava starch film. It was also found that by increasing the MCC content from 1% to 3% (\(w/w\) of starch), tensile strength and Young's modulus of the film significantly increased. When the MCC content was further increased to 5% and 10% (\(w/w\) of starch), tensile strength and Young's modulus dropped dramatically [10]. The reduction in mechanical strength occurred due to the formation of MCC agglomerates in starch films. [PERSON] et al. (2022) studied the effect of MCC derived from elephant grass on the mechanical properties of corn starch films. They found that by incorporating MCC from 1% to 5% (\(w/w\) of starch), the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the film increased from 6.04 MPa to 22.33 MPa and from 136.04 MPa to 493.29 MPa, respectively, whereas their elongation at break decreased from 29.35% to 3.49% [11]. [PERSON] et al. (2019) found that the tensile strength of the cassava starch film was significantly increased when reinforced with MCC from soybean hulls.