Floating plastic debris in the ocean creates major environmental problems and threatens marine life. Conventional marine-degradable plastics can remain in seawater for many years due to their strength and stability. In this study, we prepared a cellulose nanofiber-reinforced starch film that rapidly degrades in marine environments. (2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidin-l-yl)oxyl (TEMPO) mediated oxidation was performed to prepare highly fibrillated TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofiber (TCNF). The TCNF was blended with cationic starch (CS) to develop a TCNF/CS film, which exhibited adequate mechanical strength (similar to 50 MPa) and freshwater durability. In contrast, the neat TCNF and CS films collapsed in freshwater. Results showed that the TCNF/CS film disintegrated and lost its strength and stability in seawater. The wet strength of the TCNF/CS film decreased to similar to 50 kPa after 28 days of seawater immersion, while that of the neat TCNF film was steady at a wet strength of similar to 25 MPa due to ionic crosslinking. Owing to its rapid disintegration ability in marine environments, the TCNF/CS film is a potential next-generation packaging material that can help address the problem of floating debris.
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