Illness as the result of ingesting bacterially contaminated foodstuffs represents a significant annual loss of human quality of life and economic impact globally. Significant research investment has recently been made in developing new materials that can be used to construct food contacting tools and surfaces that might minimize the risk of cross‐contamination of bacteria from one food item to another. This is done to mitigate the spread of bacterial contamination and resultant foodborne illness. Internet‐based literature search tools such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus were utilized to investigate publishing trends within the last 10 years related to the development of antimicrobial and antifouling surfaces with potential use in food processing applications. Technologies investigated were categorized into four major groups: antimicrobial agent–releasing coatings, contact‐based antimicrobial coatings, superhydrophobic antifouling coatings, and repulsion‐based antifouling coatings. The advantages for each group and technical challenges remaining before wide‐scale implementation were compared. A diverse array of emerging antimicrobial and antifouling technologies were identified, designed to suit a wide range of food contact applications. Although each poses distinct and promising advantages, significant further research investment will likely be required to reliably produce effective materials economically and safely enough to equip large‐scale operations such as farms, food processing facilities, and kitchens.

Concerns arising from accidental and occasional releases of novel industrial nanomaterials to the environment and waterbodies are rapidly increasing as the production and utilization levels of nanomaterials increase every day. In particular, two-dimensional nanosheets are one of the most significant emerging classes of nanomaterials used or considered for use in numerous applications and devices. This study deals with the interactions between 2D molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) nanosheets and beneficial soil bacteria. It was found that the log-reduction in the survival of Gram-positive Bacillus cereus was 2.8 (99.83%) and 4.9 (99.9988%) upon exposure to 16.0 mg/mL bulk MoS₂ (macroscale) and 2D MoS₂ nanosheets (nanoscale), respectively. For the case of Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the log-reduction values in bacterial survival were 1.9 (98.60%) and 5.4 (99.9996%) for the same concentration of bulk MoS₂ and MoS₂ nanosheets, respectively. Based on these findings, it is important to consider the potential toxicity of MoS₂ nanosheets on beneficial soil bacteria responsible for nitrate reduction and nitrogen fixation, soil formation, decomposition of dead and decayed natural materials, and transformation of toxic compounds into nontoxic compounds to adequately assess the environmental impact of 2D nanosheets and nanomaterials.

Herein, we describe interfacially-assembled [7]helicene films that were deposited on graphene monolayer using the Langmuir-Schaefer deposition by utilizing the interactions of nonplanar (helicene) and planar (graphene) π–π interactions as functional antifouling coatings. Bacterial adhesion of Staphylococcus aureus on helicene—graphene films was noticeably lower than that on bare graphene, up to 96.8% reductions in bacterial adhesion. The promising bacterial antifouling characteristics of helicene films was attributed to the unique molecular geometry of helicene, i.e., nano-helix, which can hinder the nanoscale bacterial docking processes on a surface. We envision that helicene—graphene films may eventually be used as protective coatings against bacterial antifouling on the electronic components of clinical and biomedical devices.

This study aimed to quantify survival in Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium isolates on melon rind surface samples achieved by sanitizer treatment under three differing melon contamination and sanitization scenarios. Sanitizing treatments consisted of the plant-derived antimicrobial (PDA) essential oil component (EOC) geraniol (0.5 wt.%) entrapped in the polymeric surfactant Pluronic F-127 (GNP), 0.5 wt.% unencapsulated geraniol (UG), 200 mg/L hypochlorous acid at pH 7.0 (HOCl), and a sterile distilled water wash (CON). The experimental contamination and sanitization scenarios tested were: (1) pathogen inoculation preceded by treatment; (2) the pathogen was inoculated onto samples twice with sanitizing treatment applied in between inoculation events; or (3) pathogen inoculation followed by sanitizing treatment. Reductions in the numbers of surviving pathogens were dependent on the sanitizing treatment, the storage period, or the interaction of these effects. GNP treatment provided the greatest reductions in surviving pathogen counts on melon rinds, but these did not regularly statistically differ from those achieved by HOCl or UG treatment. GNP treatment provided the best pathogen control under differing conditions of pre- and/or post-harvest cross-contamination and can be applied to reduce the risk of pathogen transmission on melon rinds.

Overheating is a crucial problem limiting the reliability and performance of electronic systems. Since these systems have become continuously smaller, more powerful and sophisticated in recent decades, they produce much larger amounts of heat. As such, effective thermal management, in other words, thermal interface materials (TIMs) used in these devices for heat dissipation has gained utmost significance in terms of lifetime and reliability. Thermal greases, polymer-based composites, phase change materials (PCMs) and solders are currently the most commonly used TIMs. In this work, we describe next-generation metal matrix-based nanocomposite TIMs produced by chemical integration of organic ligand-functionalized boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) into copper matrix. These TIMs possess much higher thermal conductivity than existing solder TIMs and comparable mechanical compliance with existing epoxy-based TIMs. BNNS, prepared by mechanically assisted cleavage of h-BN flakes through ultrasonic dispersion, was functionalized with three groups of organic ligands through nucleophilic addition to form functionalized BNNS (f-BNNS). These ligand groups were categorized by their chain type, and compatibility with the BNNS and metal matrix, and the functionalization was verified via Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. Then, the f-BNNS was dispersed in a copper matrix using a novel electrocodeposition method where copper and f-BNNS are deposited on a cathode in the presence of an electric field and potential difference to form nanocomposite TIMs. The thermal properties of the nanocomposite TIMs were investigated using the laser flash analysis, and the thermal conductivies were found to be between 160 W.m -1 .K -1 and 320 W.m -1 .K -1 . Once the thermal properties were measured, mechanical properties of the developed TIMs were investigated via nanoindentation technique and tensile testing. The elastic moduli of the nanocomposite TIMs were determined to be as low as 14 GPa as these values were much smaller than that of the electroplated pure copper thin films (99-125 GPa). There was nearly a six-fold reduction in elastic modulus of copper matrix in presence of functionalized BNNSs. The hardness value corresponding to this sample was about 0.18 GPa, which is about five-to-fifteen times lower than the measured hardness values of pure copper (1.1-2.8 GPa). Briefly, BNNS were functionalized with various ligands, and it was shown that electrocodeposited nanocomposite TIMs with thermal conductivies as high as 320 W.m -1 .K -1 and elastic modulus values less than 20 GPa can be produced. Considering two extreme cases of epoxy-based and pure copper shim TIMs, our results are significant in advancing the current state of art for TIMs.