Nanotechnology can improve the mechanical barrier and the antimicrobial (which will not allow the invasion of microorganisms in the food, increasing the food barrier properties, hence can be a very promising material for food packaging. Nanomaterials will keep the food fresh in the food packaging design. Silver nanoparticles and nanoclay represent most of the nanoempowered food packaging available on the market others like zinc oxide and titanium share little of the current market. Zinc oxide enhances nutritional values in food products by adding nutrients. It helps improve the flavour, storage properties, appearance, and texture of the food. Titanium dioxide is used for food safety purposes since it prevents food from spoiling and increases the food’s shelf life. In current food packaging, these nanomaterials are used to grant antimicrobial capacity and further develop hindrance properties, broadening packaged food’s shelf life and newness. Nanofood packaging has many benefits for general wellbeing. The related harmfulness of migration, particularly in acidic conditions, is extensive. The use of nanomaterials because of their physical and chemical properties makes them broadly accessible in numerous areas. This review summarizes the antimicrobial packaging application, nanomaterials synthesis, and nanomaterial properties in food packaging.
4 January 2023 in International Journal of Polymer Science
The consumption of diapers and sanitary products has constantly been rising. Several problems are associated with using chemical-based sanitary products, which are difficult to degrade easily and cause nappy rash and bacterial infections in babies. Therefore, there is an increasing shift towards natural-based sanitary products because of their biodegradability, non-toxicity, and biocompatibility. Several studies are being carried out in which researchers have incorporated natural polymers, such as cellulose, starch, alginate, and xantham gum for producing superabsorbent materials. Chitosan (CS) is one such natural polymer that exhibits anti-microbial activity because of the functional groups present in its structure. Moreover, it is also easily available, biodegradable, and non-toxic. This review mainly focuses on CS’s properties and several approaches to synthesizing natural polymer-based superabsorbent products, such as sanitary pads and diapers. It also briefly discusses the diversified applications of CS as a biopolymer in the cosmetic, medical, food, and textile industries. In addition, this study implies using CS as a superabsorbent biopolymer in the manufacturing and producing sanitary products for women and children. Due to the excellent water retention capacity, swelling ability, and anti-microbial activity exhibited by CS can be considered a potential candidate for producing superabsorbent biopolymers.
Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were grown on carbon fiber (CF) felt by chemical vapor deposition that resulted into strongly anchored carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the CF surface. These multiscale preforms were used as the reinforcement in epoxy resin to develop multi scale CF felt-MWCNT/epoxy composites. The flexural strength (FS) and the flexural modulus (FM) of the composites were found to increase with increasing amount of CNTs grown on CF felt surface. FS improved by 37 %, i.e. 119 MPa compared to 87 MPa for CF felt/epoxy composites prepared under identical conditions. The FM also improved by 153 %, i.e. 15.7 GPa compared to 6.2 GPa for the CF/epoxy composites. The incorporation of MWCNTs on the CF felt produced a significant change in the electromagnetic interference shielding of these composites which improved from −21 to −27 dB for CF felt-MWCNT/epoxy multiscale composites in the Ku band (12.4–18 GHz) and indicates the usefulness of these strong composites for microwave shielding.